Elon Musk formally took control of Twitter Thursday and immediately began throwing out the trash, including chief financial officer Ned Segal, the man behind former President Donald Trump’s permanent ban.
“The bird is freed,” the Tesla CEO announced late Thursday night.
Among the top brass let go within hours of him finalizing the $44 billion acquisition were Segal, Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s CEO, and the top lawyer for the firm, Vijaya Gadde.
Musk had accused those individuals of misleading him regarding the platform’s fake user accounts.
No need to shed too many tears, however. Agrawal is reportedly walking away with $42 million, Segal $25.4 million, and Gadde $12.5 million.
the bird is freed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
RELATED: Journalists Openly Fret That Elon Musk’s Twitter Layoffs Will Make Censorship Harder
Musk Takes Over Twitter: The Bird is Freed
Twitter’s ex-CFO, Ned Segal, was the face of Donald Trump’s ban from the platform within days of the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
The basis for that ban was due to “the risk of further incitement of violence.”
Segal publicly insisted time and again that Trump would never be reinstated to the platform, announcing in February of 2021 that his absence would be permanent.
“Remember, our policies are designed to make sure that people are not inciting violence and if anybody does that, we have to remove them from the service and our policies don’t allow people to come back,” he told CNBC at the time.
“The way our policies work, when you’re removed from the platform, you’re removed from the platform whether you’re a commentator, you’re a CFO or you are a former or current public official,” says $TWTR CFO @nedsegal on if President Trump’s account could be restored. pic.twitter.com/ZZxascb9Rz
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) February 10, 2021
Now, Segal will have to learn to code elsewhere.
The former CFO is a prominent and consistent donor to Democrat candidates.
Elon Musk has said he would reverse the Twitter ‘permaban’ on Trump, describing it as “a morally bad decision” and “foolish in the extreme.”
Elon Musk: “I would reverse” President Trump’s ban from Twitter
pic.twitter.com/9UxpfLf15j— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 10, 2022
RELATED: Elon Musk Says He Will Reverse ‘Foolish’ Trump Ban On Twitter
Liberals Freaking Out
The former President has insisted he has no intentions of returning to Twitter, where he practically revolutionized political campaigns and public interaction.
“I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH,” he said.
But that hasn’t kept liberals from having an aneurysm over the possibility of a Trump return.
Politico worries that Elon’s takeover could lead to a triumphant Trump return, especially “if Musk loosens the rules to prevent the spread of hate speech and misinformation.”
Absolutely no self-awareness from the outlet reporting about concerns of misinformation on a platform that directly influenced the 2020 presidential election by censoring a legitimate major story about President Biden and his son, Hunter.
No, they want the misinformation to continue to flow in only one direction.
“With just 12 days until the midterm elections, a resurrected Trump Twitter account could have electoral implications, giving the former president a megaphone to again challenge election results, blast his opponents, and spread falsehoods,” they reported.
Which is exactly what Democrats on the social media platform have been doing from time immemorial.
If you listen closely, you can hear leftists screaming in the distance.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) October 28, 2022
Others on Twitter took the news of Elon Musk’s takeover hard. Very hard.
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter is cheered on by Trump, Bannon, Thiel and most of the fascist right.
He’s recently defended Kanye, appeared with Bolsonaro, and publicly argued for Putin’s Ukraine plan.
Dark times ahead. pic.twitter.com/NNwDP5HiT1
— Max Berger (@maxberger) October 28, 2022
Elon Musk is a supervillain.
He’s an agent of chaos, a fascist, a racist, and a greedy rapey entitled narcissistic silver spooned creep.
He’s an enemy of democracy and a national security threat.
He’s also a big dummy.
Twitter should delete his account immediately.
— The USA Singers (@TheUSASingers) October 27, 2022
Elon Musk taking over Twitter is a step towards a fascist takeover of the USA.
— Ron Waxman ?️? (@RonWaxman) October 28, 2022
Promoting free speech and reversing censorship is super-fascisty, you guys.
Hopefully, Musk will continue triggering the actual fascists who want to suppress free speech by reinstating all of the accounts that were banned in a Twitter purge since the 2020 election.
Yes — Now it’s time to Free Them All: pic.twitter.com/UmwxPMFkVF
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 28, 2022
The Political Insider reported that Musk is seeking to eliminate up to 75% of the staff currently at Twitter.
That news caused journalists to fret that such a move would mean the ability to ‘police’ free speech – in other words, censor what people are allowed to see and say – would be seriously impacted by the layoffs.
Potential mass layoffs at Twitter like those reportedly sought by prospective owner Elon Musk could cripple content moderation, some experts say.https://t.co/K3uBekQtTf
— ABC News (@ABC) October 23, 2022
The top executives, according to the Washington Post, were “hastily escorted out of the company’s San Francisco headquarters” following Musk’s takeover.
For now, they’ll have plenty of time to bask in their riches and let their firing ‘sink in.’
Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022
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