Twitter layoffs gutted election information teams days before midterms

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Devastating cuts to Twitter’s workforce on Friday, four days before the midterm elections, are fueling anxieties among political campaigns and election offices that have counted on the social network’s staff to help them combat violent threats and viral lies.

The mass layoffs Friday gutted teams devoted to combating election misinformation, adding context to misleading tweets and communicating with journalists, public officials and campaign staff.

The layoffs included a number of people who were scheduled to be on call this weekend and early next week to monitor for signs of foreign disinformation, spam and other problematic content around the election, one former employee told The Washington Post. As of Friday morning, employee access to internal tools used for content moderation continued to be restricted, limiting staff’s ability to respond to misinformation.

Twitter had become one of America’s most influential platforms for spreading accurate voting information, and the days before elections have often been critical moments where company and campaign officials kept up a near-constant dialogue about potential risks.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/05/twitter-layoffs-election-impact/

[MustLoveBeagles]

1. I wish I could say I was shocked about this development

Twitter is now run by a rat fucker.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

2. R.I.P. little bird.

[kelly1mm]

3. As has been noted here many times in the past, Twitter is a private company and can do what

it wants. So if we don't like it we can and should stop using the service.

[crickets]

4. Deliberate or unintentional coincidence? I'm leaning toward deliberate. 🤬

[bucolic_frolic]

5. We all know which side benefits from that action

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. By Drew Harwell, Cat Zakrzewski and Isaac Stanley-Becker

By Drew Harwell, Cat Zakrzewski and Isaac Stanley-Becker
Updated November 4, 2022 at 11:08 p.m. EDT | Published November 4, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. EDT

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Matt Brown, Naomi Nix, Will Oremus, Brittany Shammas and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez contributed to this report.

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By Drew Harwell
Drew Harwell is a reporter for The Washington Post covering artificial intelligence and the algorithms changing our lives. He was a member of an international reporting team that won a George Polk Award in 2021. Twitter https://twitter.com/drewharwell

By Cat Zakrzewski
Cat Zakrzewski is a technology policy reporter, tracking Washington's efforts to regulate Silicon Valley companies. Her reporting covers antitrust, privacy and the debate over regulating social media companies. Twitter https://twitter.com/Cat_Zakrzewski

By Isaac Stanley-Becker
Isaac Stanley-Becker is a national political reporter. Twitter https://twitter.com/isaacstanbecker