CBS News resumes Twitter activity after brief halt over Musk concerns

CBS News announced on Sunday it will resume its Twitter activity after halting it for part of the weekend to assess “uncertainty” under new CEO Elon Musk.

“After pausing for much of the weekend to assess the security concerns, CBS News and Stations is resuming its activity on Twitter as we continue to monitor the situation,” the network wrote on the platform.

The network’s various accounts stopped posting tweets late on Friday, hours after Musk’s deadline for employees to either commit to a “hardcore” work environment or accept severance and leave the company.

The ultimatum led an estimated 1,200 employees to depart on Thursday, according to The New York Times, which came after Musk laid off about half of Twitter’s workforce, which included roughly 7,500 employees when he formally took over the company.

“In light of the uncertainty around Twitter and out of an abundance of caution, @cbsnews is temporarily pausing its activity on the social media platform as it continues to monitor the situation,” CBS News had said in a statement announcing the pause. “We are hopeful that we will resume activity very soon.”

CBS News’ various accounts began posting tweets again on Sunday morning.

The network’s statement announcing it was resuming Twitter activity caught the eye of Musk himself, who responded with an emoji of a yellow face with its hand over its mouth, suggesting embarrassment.

Musk since taking over the social media giant has railed against the mainstream media, saying he supports a rise in “citizen journalism” to compete with legacy outlets.

Musk’s critics have raised concerns that his proposed changes will lead to a rise in hate speech and misinformation on the platform.