Elon Musk’s Event With Ron DeSantis Exposes Twitter’s Weaknesses

Technology|Elon Musk’s Event With Ron DeSantis Exposes Twitter’s Weaknesses

Hosting Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, successful a Twitter audio lawsuit connected Wednesday to denote his statesmanlike run was expected to beryllium a triumphant infinitesimal for Elon Musk, the proprietor of Twitter.

Instead, the lawsuit began with much than 20 minutes of method glitches, blistery mic moments and drowned-out and half-said conversations earlier the livestream abruptly chopped out. Minutes later, the livestream was restarted arsenic hundreds of thousands of listeners tried to tune in. Mr. DeSantis had not said a connection astatine that point.

“That was insane, sorry,” Mr. Musk said.

Behind the stop-start Twitter Space, an audio-only livestream connected the societal network, was a institution that has undergone large changes successful caller months. Since Mr. Musk bought Twitter past twelvemonth for $44 billion, helium has reshaped it by cutting much than 75 percent of its enactment force, changing the code rules and reinstating suspended users. Outages person been on the rise, arsenic person bugs that person made Twitter little usable.

The method problems connected Wednesday showed however Twitter is operating acold from seamlessly, turning what was expected to beryllium a crowning lawsuit for Mr. Musk into thing of an embarrassment.

The lawsuit had been an accidental for Mr. Musk, an unpredictable enforcement with interests successful galore fields, to beforehand aggregate agendas. Those included a governmental coming-out for the billionaire, who has flirted with right-wing accounts and authorities for years connected Twitter but has ne'er embraced a statesmanlike campaigner the mode helium has Mr. DeSantis. And it was expected to beryllium a mode for Mr. Musk to beforehand his concern interests by highlighting Twitter, which helium is trying to crook around.

“He’s being wide that helium volition usage his media level to beforehand his ain governmental interests successful a mode that is unprecedented successful its overtness,” said Jason Goldman, a erstwhile vice president of merchandise astatine Twitter.

Mr. Musk did not respond to a petition for comment.

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