“Vijaya Gadde, the top censorship advocate at Twitter who famously gaslit the world on Joe Rogan’s podcast and censored the Hunter Biden laptop story, is very upset about the @elonmusk takeover,” Enjeti tweeted.
Tesla CEO Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion this week, replied, criticizing Gadde’s past actions. “Suspending the Twitter account of a major news organization for publishing a truthful story was obviously incredibly inappropriate,” he wrote.
Musk’s tweet could potentially run afoul of the terms of his deal to acquire Twitter, which permit the SpaceX and Tesla founder to tweet about his acquisition “so long as such Tweets do not disparage the Company or any of its Representatives.”
During the 2020 presidential election, Twitter temporarily blocked a New York Post story on Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s son Hunter that it said violated a policy against posting hacked materials. The company did not suspend the entire news organization but did prevent it from tweeting for a period of time.
Musk’s response Tuesday was the first time he targeted specific Twitter executives by using his nearly singular ability to call attention to topics that interest him. Supporters of Musk, a prolific and freewheeling tweeter with 86 million followers, tend to pile on with his viewpoints.
He has used the platform to criticize Twitter’s decisions in the past, particularly on topics related to free speech and the banning of accounts from individuals who violate Twitter rules. Gadde is the most senior executive responsible for those decisions.
He also used his megaphone to take a swipe at Twitter’s popularity, pointing out that Donald Trump’s Truth Social was “beating Twitter & TikTok” among Apple Store downloads early Wednesday.
But until now, Musk’s criticisms do not appear to have been personal or targeted at individual Twitter employees. His responses to the tweets from Enjeti and online influencer Mike Cernovich also reveal the chaos — and potential harm — that can ensue when the incoming owner of a company amplifies criticism of workers there.
Personal attacks from Musk are a nightmare scenario for Twitter employees, who in recent weeks have repeatedly expressed concerns in interviews and at a companywide town hall that they could be targeted by the world’s richest man.
Twitter users quickly piled onto the criticism of Gadde, including calling on Musk to fire her and using racist language to describe her. Gadde was born in India and immigrated to the United States as a child. One user said she would “go down in history as an appalling person.”
Cernovich also tweeted about Twitter Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker, drawing a response from Musk.
Cernovich told The Washington Post that he was “surprised by the reaction to my tweet, which was a discussion of a news report.”
Twitter, Musk and Gadde did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Baker declined to comment.
Enjeti responded to the Post’s request on Twitter, writing Gadde was a “public figure” because she appeared on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast. “My criticism of her for a policy she publicly has defended is in no way responsible for what some rando account may say to her,” he tweeted.
In internal messages and at a company town hall Monday, Twitter employees asked executives for assurance that they would be able to safely do their jobs if Musk targeted them.
Musk launched a hostile takeover bid for Twitter two weeks ago, citing a desire to restore “free speech” to the platform. Over the weekend, he engaged in closed-door negotiations with the board. On Monday, the two parties announced they’d reached an agreement for an acquisition that is expected to close in three to six months, according to executives.
Employees who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution have said that they are concerned Musk may undo some of the steps they’ve taken to better moderate hate speech and disinformation.
Faiz Siddiqui contributed to this report.