Amid turmoil under new owners, the White House said Twitter must tell Americans how it protects their data.
Elon Musk on Friday asked all Twitter employees who write software to go to the 10th office in San Francisco in the afternoon, according to an email reviewed by Reuters.
The billionaire said in a follow-up email: “If possible, I would appreciate it if you could fly to SF to be there in person,” adding that he would be at the company’s headquarters until midnight and would return Saturday morning.
He said engineers were due to report at 2pm on Friday (22:00 GMT).
The emails came days after hundreds of Twitter employees decided to leave the social media company following a Thursday deadline from Musk that employees would be logging “stronger hours”.
The exit adds to the rapid and chaotic changes that have marked Musk’s first three weeks as Twitter owner, when the company’s head was already cut in half by layoffs and other departures of about 3,700 employees.
Twitter told employees Thursday it would close its offices and cut badges until Monday, according to two sources. Reuters could not immediately confirm whether the center would reopen.
As of Friday afternoon, the company had not closed corporate channels to employees who refused to accept Musk’s offer, two sources told Reuters.
One of the sources said the company plans to close one of its three major US Twitter sites, at the SMF1 site near Sacramento, for cost-cutting reasons.
Among the changes, Moody’s withdrew its B1 rating on Twitter, saying it “has insufficient or insufficient information to support a rating adjustment”.
A White House official weighed in, saying Twitter should tell Americans how the company protects their data, according to a CNN reporter. tweeted.
Musk’s rules
In his emails on Friday, Musk ordered employees to email him a summary of what their software has “accomplished” in the past six months, “along with up to 10 pictures of the most popular lines”.
“There will be short, technical interviews that allow me to better understand Twitter’s technology,” Musk wrote in one of the emails.
Musk said earlier this week that some Tesla engineers were helping to monitor Twitter’s engineering teams, but said it was “voluntary” and “after hours”.
He also said that he will try to talk to remote workers via video, and that only people who cannot go to the company’s headquarters or have family problems will be exempted.
In his first email to Twitter employees this month, Musk said: “We’re also changing Twitter’s policy so that remote work is no longer allowed unless you have a choice.”
“Management will send me the exception lists for review and approval.”
Musk wrote on Twitter late Thursday that he is not worried about resigning because “the best people are staying”.
