The founder and former CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, apologized on Saturday to the social media company’s employees, a day after thousands were laid off.
As many as half of the company’s 7,500 staffers could be axed since Musk acquired the company for $44bn last week.
In a series of tweets, Jack Dorsey wrote that he “grew the company size too quickly.”
“Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient,” he wrote.
“They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that.”
“I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter,” he added. “I don’t expect that to be mutual in this moment…or ever…and I understand.”
At least one class-action lawsuit has been filed against Twitter on behalf of former employees who say they were not given adequate notice of their termination.
“Elon Musk has a history of violating California’s labor laws, as Tesla has been hit with a shocking number of sexual and racial harassment lawsuits,” said prominent lawyer Lisa Bloom, who confirmed to the Guardian that she has been in contact with several Twitter employees.
“His workers are human beings who are all entitled to respectful treatment. This time a hard-hitting class-action lawsuit will finally educate him that even the world’s richest man is not above the law.”
UK-based Twitter workers who face losing their jobs have been given three days to nominate a representative for a formal consultation about their employment.
Musk has defended the layoffs, tweeting that fired employees are receiving three months of severance as the company reportedly loses over $4m a day.
But several companies have announced that they will no longer be advertising on Twitter amid fears that misinformation and hate speech will proliferate on the app as protections against each are scaled back.
Audi, General Motors, General Mills and other advertisers have halted ads on the site.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other groups have also pushed for advertisers to pause their spending on the site in the face of the hate speech concerns.
Musk has added a fee for accounts with the blue verification badge.
The new strategy, he said, would give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators.
Opponents of the approach said it will make it easier for users to spread disinformation or to impersonate someone else on Twitter.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mocked the idea of Musk charging user fees.
Many worry that overhauling Twitter will lead to an explosion of hate speech and spam on the platform.
Under Musk’s ownership, Twitter has seen a significant spike in hate speech, according to a new study. Researchers from Montclair State University found that the 12 hours immediately following Musk’s ascension to ownership saw a much more “hostile” environment on Twitter.
“These issues aren’t new, and the people targeted by hateful conduct aren’t numbers or data points. We’re going to continue investing in policy and technology to make things better,” Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of safety and security, tweeted on Monday.