Former Twitter executive tells people not to work at or advertise on site after Elon Musk takeover
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Nobody should work at or advertise on Twitter after Elon Musk’s purchase of the company, according to a former executive.
The “toxic takeover” means that people and brands should stay away from the site, according to Katie Jacobs Stanton, its former vice president for global media.
Ms Stanton made the comments in the wake of an email, sent by Mr Musk to the remaining employees of the company, demanding that they commit to a new “hardcore” working setup or leave.
“In a million years, I never thought I would feel this, let alone Tweet this, but I would not recommend any person work at Twitter nor any brand advertise on Twitter given this toxic takeover,” Ms Stanton wrote on the site.
She quote tweeted a report about that email, in which Mr Musk had emailed about a “fork in the road”. In the email, he said that the site would need to become “extremely hardcore”, which would mean “working long hours at high intensity”.
Ms Stanton has repeatedly criticised Mr Musk’s running of the company in the wake of his takeover. She has previously criticised his crackdown on dissent in the company, as well as his alienation of many of the site’s advertisers, who have expressed fears about the content moderation and there aspects of the site.
“I’m not an expert, but firing and losing the people who are beloved by brands and advertisers is maybe not the best way to support a business 90% based on ads,” she wrote in one post earlier this month.
But the latest post was Ms Stanton’s strongest words yet about the ongoing changes happening at the site, where she worked between 2010 and 2016. She was the company’s vice president for international operations and then its vice president for global media.
Ms Stanton left the company six years ago, and now serves as a board member at a number of companies including Yahoo, and runs her own investment firm, Moxxie Ventures.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments