Chapter 174

Musk reinstate banned accounts including Kathy Griffin, Jordan Peterson, and the Babylon Bee under a new "visibility-filtering" policy, while permanently banning Ye for antisemitic content. He holds a Twitter poll on Trump's reinstatement that passes narrowly, then executes a third round of mass firings targeting engineers deemed insufficiently productive, reducing Twitter's workforce from eight thousand to just over two thousand by mid-December. Despite predictions of collapse, the platform survives and begins innovating faster, though Musk later visits Apple headquarters to ease tensions over advertising and App Store concerns.

On November 18, Musk tweets that Kathy Griffin, Jordan Peterson, and the Babylon Bee have been reinstated, announcing a new "visibility-filtering" policy that allows speech but limits reach for negative or hateful content through demotion and demonetization. He refuses to reinstate Alex Jones due to Sandy Hook denial, citing the death of his own child. However, Ye (Kanye West) continues violating policies by appearing on Jones's podcast declaring his love for Hitler and posting antisemitic content, leading Musk to suspend his account. Regarding Trump, Musk initially expresses concern about unbanning a figure engaged in what he sees as criminal activity, but on November 18 launches a poll asking users whether to reinstate Trump. The poll reaches over 15 million votes, splitting 51.8 to 48.2 percent in favor, and Musk announces Trump's reinstatement while declaring he personally dislikes Trump. That same Friday, ad sales chief Robin Wheeler resigns, troubled not by the Trump decision but by Musk's demand that she compile a firing list despite having convinced her team to join the new Twitter. Musk pursues a third round of layoffs disguised as "for cause" firings based on code reviews, demanding engineers submit code samples for assessment. On the Monday before Thanksgiving, fifty engineers receive termination notices. By mid-December, Twitter's workforce shrinks from approximately eight thousand to just over two thousand—a 75 percent reduction. Despite widespread predictions of platform collapse and the #twitterdeathwatch hashtag, the platform survives heavy World Cup traffic and begins innovating faster than before. Journalists at The Verge note that while Musk broke Twitter's nurturing culture, his vindication came in the platform's survival and continued functionality. In late November, after tweeting criticism of Apple's reduced advertising, Musk receives counsel from investor Larry Ellison to avoid conflict with Apple. Musk visits Tim Cook at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, where they discuss supply-chain management and advertising concerns. Cook assures Musk that Apple has no plans to remove Twitter from the App Store and will continue advertising, though the longstanding issue of Apple's refusal to share App Store customer data—critical for Musk's vision of X.com financial services integration—remains unresolved.