The timing of Musk’s intentions, should he end up taking over the company, is bad news for Twitter. In July, the business declared that it has “significantly slowed” recruiting due to a general economic slowdown in the tech sector, where numerous businesses have recently announced hiring freezes and layoffs. The Washington Post broke the news first and said that even if the transaction fell through, there would be significant budget cuts. Bloomberg verified the initial claim: Elon Musk told prospective investors in his deal to buy the company that he planned to get rid of nearly 75 percent of Twitter’s 7,500 workers, whittling the company down to a skeleton staff of just over 2,000.” The Washington Post stated that despite assurances from the social media company’s human resources department that mass layoffs were not in the works, substantial preparations to fire personnel and reduce infrastructure expenses were in place even before Musk made an acquisition bid. Without a doubt, the layoffs will affect Twitter’s everyday operations, particularly its capacity to regulate offensive material and address security concerns. The report has increased worries that Musk’s unrestricted free speech aspirations might almost completely eliminate moderators and fact-checkers, allowing hate speech and misinformation to spread on the social network unchallenged. On October 28, Musk’s acquisition of the business is supposed to be finalised. However, given the rocky history of the proposed takeover, few people will believe it when it actually occurs.
