Elon Musk Is Now In ‘Hell’ As ‘Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator’

Elon Musk is forging ahead with the changes at Twitter, defending the layoffs, the $8 blue tick fee and more, claiming he's now in 'Hell.'

Elon Musk has made innumerable changes to Twitter ever since he became “Chief Twit” earlier last month, after finally buying the social media company despite the steep cost. Since then, Musk has been under fire for many things, including massive layoffs, and a new verification $8 fee.

But then again, as Musk says: “Being attacked by both right & left simultaneously is a good sign”, clearly, the man is going to do to Twitter as he did to Tesla, naysayers please excuse, even if he’s in ‘Hell’, working as ‘Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator.’

The UN Is Alarmed Over The Massive Layoffs

The first order of business for Musk the moment he took over Twitter, was to walk into the HQ with a sink in his hand, to let it “sink in” for Twitter users. The CEO, CFO, and several other key head figures were fired in quick succession, and over time, more people began to get the pink slip. There are rumors that more than half of its 7,500-strong staff could be fired, and the UN is alarmed over the prospect of so many job losses. For the general public, Musk has turned more into a Marvel villain, than the Avenger he dressed up as on Halloween.

Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, has accordingly addressed an open letter to Musk, where he expresses concern over reports of Musklaying off the platform’s entire human rights team. According to Türk, it was “not, from my perspective, an encouraging start”.

He also mentioned, “Respect for our shared human rights should set the guardrails for the platform’s use and evolution. In short, I urge you to ensure human rights are central to the management of Twitter under your leadership.” Türk cited that he was writing with “concern and apprehension about our digital public square and Twitter’s role in it”.

He also warned against propagating hate speech and misinformation and highlighted the need to protect user privacy, saying, free speech was “not a free pass”.

Meanwhile, Musk has defended his stand by saying employees would receive a three-month payment from the company, which he said was losing more than $4m a day. He tweeted on Friday evening: “Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately, there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day. Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance.”

Elon Musk Defends Twitter Blue Tick

Despite a massive backlash over the $8-a-month fee that Twitter plans to charge anybody who wants to verify their account with a “blue tick”, Musk is certain that this is the way ahead and he’s barging on with no stops.

He further retweeted a Twitter user’s thoughts on the same, “The entitled elite is not mad that they have to pay $8/month. They’re mad that anyone can pay $8/month.”

? https://t.co/W55sUbxYed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 3, 2022

Musk also made it very clear, “you get what you pay for”, signaling the $8 verification fee was the future for Twitter. He further tweeted, “To all complainers, please continue complaining, but it will cost $8.” Thing is, the complaints are continuing, considering Musk and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had an argument over it a few days ago.

Just a few hours ago, Musk again shared a meme, a photo of a T-shirt, leaving Twitterati in splits.

pic.twitter.com/3t5ahItE5z
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 8, 2022

Of course, the joke is on Musk given that many Twitter users said they didn’t want to pay $8 for the verification, but wanted something else like this Twitter user claimed: “I’ll pay $8 for that t-shirt.”

Are People Truly Moving Away From Twitter?

Further, Twitter is also going to ban any and all accounts that make fun of other people, unless they specify their account to be a parody one.

Tweeted Musk, “Any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark. Previously, we issued a warning before the suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning. This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue.”

He further wrote, “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended.”

Actors like Sarah Silverman, Kathy Griffin, and Rich Sommer actually had their Twitter accounts blocked after they changed their usernames to “Elon Musk” and put up his picture as well.

It seems the new Twitter owner cannot quite take a joke, although he can certainly dish it out. With Twitter users moving to other platforms like Mastodon, Musk mocked the move in a now-deleted tweet where he lashed out at the people complaining about all the changes in and on Twitter, asking them to join “masterbatedone” if they wanted to.

People can go ahead and poke fun at Musk but the fact remains, he owns five companies, including Twitter. Considering he also manages Tesla, Nueralink, SpaceX, and his cosmetic brand The Boring Company, Musk recently admitted at the annual Ron Baron Conference that he now works 120 hours a week!

Guess that’s why he can afford to be a bit irreverent: