Elon Musk news - live: Musk dumps $4bn worth of shares in Tesla shares as personal wealth drops below $200bn

Twitter lays off staff around the world as Musk continues to attract criticism in his new position

Related: Trevor Noah tells Elon Musk how to make money from Twitter

Musk has been criticised for urging “independent-minded voters” to back Republican candidates in this week’s midterm elections.

The Tesla and SpaceX boss, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last month, told his 115m followers that “shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties”, and that voters should therefore limit a Democratic president by voting for a Republican Congress.

The move appeared to cause a price-drop in Tesla’s stock that caused Mr Musk’s net worth to drop below $200bn.

It is the latest episode in a week of chaos the San-Francisco-based social network, which reportedly may have to rehire some of the staff that it fired last week because it needs their expertise.

Mr Musk decided to lay off almost 50 per cent of Twitter staff, with the company’s employees alerted on their job status by email after barring their entrances to offices and cutting off their access to internal systems overnight.

Key Points

• Tesla stock plunges to new low as Elon Musk’s net worth drops below $200bn
• Jack Dorsey apologises to staff for layoffs
• ‘Unfortunately, there is no choice’: Elon Musk defends axing Twitter staff
• Fans react to Ryan Reynolds joining Tumblr amid Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover
• Elon Musk says ‘power to the people' after firing 50 per cent of Twitter employees
• Elon Musk blames activists for ‘massive drop’ in revenue as Twitter begins huge job cuts

[8 November 2022 18:00 · Adam Smith]

MEPs want to grill Elon Musk about Twitter

Elon Musk could be asked to appear before the European Parliament to answer questions about his takeover of Twitter.

MEPs from the liberal Renew group have written to the EU legislature’s president asking her to invite the billionaire to attend a scrutiny session.

Dita Charanzová, the group’s top MEP on the European Parliament’s internal market committee, said Twitter could not be left to become a “dystopian hellscape” and that EU laws had to be followed.

Mr Musk has said he will focus on promoting free speech on the platform, though he has said he will respect local regulations.

“The bird might be free, but European values and laws must still apply to Twitter,” said Sophie in ‘t Veld, Renew’s top MEP on the civil liberties and home affairs committee.

[8 November 2022 17:00 · Adam Smith]

Government to consult tech giants over Ireland job losses

The Taoiseach has said the Government is to consult tech giants whose Ireland-based employees are at risk of redundancy.

Micheal Martin said there are issues within the digital sector and he is concerned over the potential job losses in the state.

He made the comments as Tanaiste Leo Varadkar meets officials from the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) over job losses at Twitter.

[8 November 2022 16:00 · Adam Smith]

Twitter users falsely tweet that Donald Trump is dead to test Musk-era content moderation

Tweets falsely suggesting that Donald Trump has died are testing the content moderation of Elon Musk’s Twitter.

Huge number of users started posting tweets that suggested the former president had died in a protest against the new administration of Twitter.

As soon as Elon Musk announced he intended to buy the social network, questions arose of what kinds of content he would allow to be posted. He repeatedly indicated that he would be more permissive about the what could be said on the social network, describing himself as a free speech champion.

In response, some users have decided to test the moderation on the social network by posting false stories about Donald Trump, and see whether they would be taken down. They were led by Tim Heidecker, a comedian who encouraged others to share the false posts.

[8 November 2022 15:51 · Adam Smith]

"Twitter is the worst! But also the best.”

[8 November 2022 15:30 · Adam Smith]

Eric Idle slams Elon Musk’s Twitter verification plans which he says he stole from Monty Python

Elon Musk’s plans to charge $8 for verification have been slammed by Eric Idle after the Tesla billionaire claimed he got the idea from the Monty Python comedy group.

Twitter’s new owner has come under fire for his plans to charge for a blue tick on the social media platform after completing his $44bn takeover.

Mr Musk took to Twitter earlier this week and joked about his inspiration for it and posted video of a Monty Python sketch to emphasize his point.

“To all complainers, please continue complaining, but it will cost $8,” he tweeted. “Totally stole idea of charging for insults & arguments from Monty Python tbh.”

In the video, a man goes to a clinic where people pay for confrontations with a professional arguer.

Idle, a member of the famed troupe who did not appear in the sketch, tweeted his disapproval.

“So you’re allowed to steal, but you wish to charge us to verify who we are? Good luck with that then,” Idle wrote.

[8 November 2022 15:00 · Adam Smith]

Elon Musk’s past tweets reveal clues about Twitter’s new owner

He may be good with rockets and electric cars, but don't turn to Elon Musk for public health predictions.

“Probably close to zero new cases in US too by end of April,” the world's richest man tweeted about COVID-19 in March 2020, just as the pandemic was ramping up.

It's one of many tweets that offer a glimpse into the mind of Twitter's new owner and moderator in chief. Playful, aggressive and sometimes reckless, Musk's past tweets show how he has used social media to tout his businesses, punch back at critics and burnish his brand as a brash billionaire who is unafraid to speak his mind.

[8 November 2022 14:30 · Adam Smith]

Twitter will want to settle with UK staff, lawyer suggests

An employment lawyer has suggested that Twitter failed to comply with its duty to collectively consult with staff before firing half its workers.

“Most of the affected staff are based in California, where Twitter has its HQ but it looks likely that some UK staff in London and Manchester will be affected. Staff will be asking whether Elon Musk can terminate the employment of half the workforce overnight. Based on the limited information available to us at the moment, it looks like the dismissals in the UK will be both substantively and procedurally unfair, giving rise to claims of unfair dismissal”, said Joseph Lappin, Head of Employment and Partner at UK law firm Stewarts.

“We think Twitter will want to settle with staff who are dismissed in the UK by offering them severance packages which might ‘buy out’ their unfair dismissal and related employment claims. However, Elon Musk might find not all staff will agree to any proposed severance terms. The PR fall out looks to be potentially devastating for Twitter and staff will want to make the most of the public support they appear to have. The hashtag #oneteam in support of staff finding out that they have lost their jobs is, ironically, trending on Twitter.”

[8 November 2022 14:00 · Adam Smith]

Reports that Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe was banned from Twitter under Elon Musk’s new rules appear to be false, The Independent has found.

Numerous Twitter users and some news outlets shared claims on Monday that the 33-year-old actor was among the celebrities who had their accounts suspended for impersonating Mr Musk.

The rumour appeared to have begun with a tweet from ‘Weird’ Al Yankovic, the musical parody artist whom Radcliffe is portraying in a new Hollywood biopic, who said: “Oh no, they suspended @danielradcliffe’s Twitter account! Wasn’t it obvious he was doing a PARODY???”

But according to the Internet Archive, the account @danielradcliffe had already become inactive some time between September 2009 and August 2011, when the Archive’s automated checks began being redirecting to Twitter’s “account suspended” page.

Indeed, Radcliffe is well-known for not using social media, saying in 2020: “I considered getting a Twitter, and I 100 per cent know that if I did, you all would be waking up to stories of, like, ‘Dan Radcliffe gets into fight with random person on Twitter’.”

[8 November 2022 13:30 · Adam Smith]

Twitter’s head of safety talks about the future of verification

Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of safety, has given some insight into how verification will develop.

“For years, Verification on Twitter has been tricky because it’s a signal both of authenticity (you are who you say you are) and notability (you’re ‘important’ by some standard). Notability is inherently difficult to determine in a fair way globally. I support getting rid of it”, he tweeted.

“Proof-of-humanness is more straightforward. Most spam-fighting is a numbers game: Your objective is to raise the costs on spammers until their losses exceed their gains. When you do that, the spammers go away, and you win. $8 per account raises the costs of spam A LOT.

“It’s not just the $8, though — this kind of in-app purchase requires bad actors to get through not only Twitter’s defenses, but also those of mobile device manufacturers and payment processors. That’s not impossible for a sophisticated adversary — but it’s hard to do at scale.”

[8 November 2022 13:00 · Adam Smith]

Elon Musk shares meme featuring Nazi soldier

Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, has come under fire for sharing a meme featuring a Nazi soldier as a joke about technological progress.

The Tesla and SpaceX billionaire tweeted a black and white photo of a solider carrying a cage full of carrier pigeons on his back, with the caption "3 unread messages" and a red notification badge superimposed onto the cage as if it were a smartphone app.

"How times have changed," commented Mr Musk, adding: "Back when birds were real..."

But hawk-eyed Twitter users soon pointed out that the photo actually shows a member of the army of Nazi Germany, known as the Wehrmacht, during the invasion of France in May 1940, when portable radios were not yet ubiquitous in war.

The same photo with slightly different colour grading is described on Getty Images as "German Wehrmacht Soldier With Carrier Pigeons".