(Tony Sifert, Headline USA) Twitter employees melted down over Elon Musk‘s alleged invocation of the phrase “all lives matter” during an “all-hands” virtual meeting with staff on Thursday.
More from Twitter Slack channels: Twitter employees big mad cuz @elonmusk said “all lives matter” pic.twitter.com/aKeCIqmu9E
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 17, 2022
“He literally just all lives mattered,” one incredulous employee wrote, but the context for the remark is unclear, according to the Libs of TikTok Twitter account.
A rush transcript put together by Vox does not include Musk’s use of the phrase “all lives matter,” but only certain comments he made regarding his hope that Twitter could bring on board as many users as possible.
“When talking about Twitter as a whole, there’s 8 billion people in the world; I’m told there’s 200 million daily users of Twitter,” Musk said. “That’s a 7.8 billion-person gap.”
“I think we really want to have . . . as many people as we can possibly get on Twitter,” Musk continued. “So that, I think, is the most inclusive definition of inclusiveness, just like, all humans.”
Cue panic among Twitter staffers.
A recording of the meeting in which Musk answered questions about his plans for Twitter, his political views, and the importance of free speech was leaked and published by Project Veritas, and even acknowledged by the billionaire himself.
Exactly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 16, 2022
Employee reactions on the messaging program Slack were also leaked and published by Newsmax reporter Benny Johnson.
BREAKING: Leaked Internal Slack Messages Show Twitter Employees Reaction to @ElonMusk‘s #TwitterAllHands Call pic.twitter.com/VMZ1Uoxu4E
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 16, 2022
During the meeting, Musk articulated his views on the role Twitter has as a “digital town square.”
“[Twitter is] really much more than [a digital town square], because you can’s put that many people in a town square, but you have the ability to communicate with millions of people on Twitter,” Musk said.
In order for that communication to be effective in a democratic system, however, users have to be free to speak their minds.
“I think it’s essential for a functioning democracy . . . have free speech and to be able to communicate freely,” Musk said. “Free speech within the context of the law.”
When asked about his political views, Musk claimed to be a “moderate,” but added that he had recently, for the first time, voted for a Republican.
“You know, I’ve voted Democrat, every election until this recent one this week,” Musk said. “And then I voted for Mayra Flores, who is Republican.”
