Media

CBS News halting Twitter activity amid ‘uncertainty’ surrounding platform under Musk

FILE - The Twitter splash page is seen on a digital device, Monday, April 25, 2022, in San Diego. On Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, Twitter continued to bleed engineers and other workers after new owner Elon Musk gave them a choice to pledge to “hardcore” work or resign with severance pay. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

CBS News is halting its activity on Twitter amid the “uncertainty” on the social media site under new CEO Elon Musk.

“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 said in a statement. “We are hopeful that we will resume activity very soon.”

The announcement came after Twitter employees resigned en masse on Thursday night, in response to Musk’s ultimatum to either get on board with a “hardcore” work environment or leave.

The billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX had already laid off nearly half of Twitter’s 7,500-person workforce in his first week, and another 1,200 are estimated to have resigned on Thursday, per the New York Times.

Musk reportedly emailed employees on Friday, asking “anyone who actually writes software” to attend a meeting that afternoon, according to the Times.

Amid the chaos that ensued on Thursday night, many Twitter users lamented the supposed end of the site and prepared for the worst, sending out other social media handles in case.

Musk continued to upend the platform on Saturday with his decision to reinstate former President Trump’s account, nearly two years after he was banned in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. 

Musk’s decision was made based on a Twitter poll, which showed a narrow majority supported reinstating Trump’s account. However, it remains to be seen whether the former president, who created his own social media platform Truth Social, will return to Twitter.

–Updated on Nov. 20 at 12:46 p.m.