If you wanted to be a fly on the wall during the first All Hands meeting, you're in luck.
The audio from the company-wide call about its change from a publicly-traded company to a billionaire-owned, private entity was leaked by a conservative activist group. The group has a bone to pick with the social media site, as its right-wing founder was kicked out last year for platform manipulation. The group has a history of deceptive reporting practices.
The dialogue seems to be consistent with previous reports about the call. It appears that she may have been responding to the leak of the audio clip from the meeting. In this short clip, it was not clear if Berland was reading questions from employees or speaking on her own behalf. The full leak of the meeting audio shows that the questions are coming from employees.
The CEO and independent board chair answered questions from the employees during the forty-five-minute discussion. Many of the answers were different versions of the same thing.
It could take up to six months for the deal to close, but that doesn't mean things won't happen. Things have changed. I have been in this role for four months. He said that they would be finding a way to have him talk with all of you.
Elon Musk’s Twitter deal includes a $1 billion termination fee on both sides
The questions that employees asked indicated real concern about how the deal would affect their day-to-day work priorities, compensation and stock options. It was previously reported that there would be no layoffs at this time. The company hadn't thought through the answer to the question of a hiring freeze.
The platform's guidelines will be affected by Musk's desire to cultivate free speech. Hate speech, spam, targeted harassment, COVID-19 misinformation and attempts to manipulate a political election are banned by the social media site. Musk has said that he wants the policies of the company to match the law, but that doesn't mean it will hold up for a private social network used in many different countries.
An employee asked for more clarity on what Musk meant by free speech, as it was a concept that had existed for a while.
I'm going to read the question behind it and see if there's a chance that the product will go as a private company in the future. His answer indicated that there wasn't a lot of clarity on that point.
He said that the leadership team would sit down with Musk to discuss the situation.
There could be differences of opinion with the new owner, and that's why Agrawal wants to have a two-way dialogue with Musk.
In order to best collaborate, Musk'sambitions and ambitions would need to be understood by the leadership of the company.
An employee asked if President Trump's account will be restored, but didn't get a direct answer. Although Trump has said he doesn't want to return to social media, he could change his mind.
Trump says he won’t return to Twitter if his account is reinstated
I think we've been learning about what's happening out there. We constantly change our policies. He said that they make decisions for the health of the public conversation every day.
It sounds like Musk will make that call.
Musk has said that part of why he bought the platform was because he disagreed with their content moderation policies. When Musk assumes power, how will these teams be supported?
The work that was done to keep conversations safe, free from manipulation and from spam was the first thing that Agrawal mentioned. One of Musk's larger complaints with the service today is that it has not been able to deal with the bots and spammers who flood Musk with replies.
There is a lot of work we have to do to continue making that better, but I compliment the teams that work to keep it safe. Sometimes that means more thoughtful moderation, sometimes that means making things simpler, sometimes that means changing product incentives to be able to solve problems through products.
For now, Musk's takeover bid is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
If you are a former or current employee with more information, please send it to amanda@techcrunch.com.
Sarah Perez has additional reporting.
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