Elon Musk Reportedly Firing Twitter Workers Over Email For Criticizing Him In Private Slack Channels

Twitter CEO Elon Musk reportedly fired as many as 20 people for criticizing him on internal company communications.

What Happened: Platformer writer Casey Newton made the revelation on Twitter on Tuesday. Newton said that employees who criticized Musk in Twitter's Slack channels were "fired overnight over email."

NEW: Employees who have criticized Elon Musk in Twitter's Slack channels were fired overnight over email.

"We regret to inform you that your employment is terminated immediately," they're being told over email. "Your recent behavior has violated company policy."
— Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) November 15, 2022

In a later update, Newton said it "appears" that around 20 people were fired for their Slack posts.

Employees say it appears that around 20 people have been fired so far for their Slack posts.
— Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) November 15, 2022

Reacting to a Tweet, Musk seemed to acknowledge the firings. The entrepreneur said the fired employees' immense talent "will no doubt be of great use elsewhere."

I would like to apologize for firing these geniuses. Their immense talent will no doubt be of great use elsewhere.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2022

It should be noted that since the Tesla CEO’s takeover of Twitter, thousands of employees have been laid off.

Why It Matters: On Monday, Twitter fired an eight-year veteran at the company when he pushed back against Musk on the platform.

Eric Frohnhoefer publicly disagreed with Musk's assessment that "poorly batched" remote procedure calls were responsible for Twitter's slowdown in many countries, according to a prior report.

A number of Twitter employees have disclosed that they were terminated after posting criticism on social media.