Trump's account was deactivated after years of employees warning Twitter

Trump's account was deactivated after years of employees warning Twitter

7 years ago
Anonymous $ZOEEBQ1zf0

https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/3/16603620/rogue-twitter-employees-trump-account-deletion

Last night, a rogue Twitter employee celebrated their last day with the company by deactivating President Donald Trump’s account. In response, Twitter said it has “implemented safeguards to prevent this from happening again.” But the company declined to offer any explanation for how it would restrict access to tools that have been accessible to a range of Twitter employees, including contractors. Former employees say the company has known about the risks of rogue employees for years — and that Trump’s 11-minute deactivation isn’t the first time an employee targeted an account on their way out of the company.

In the wake of Trump’s account deactivation shortly before 10PM ET on Thursday, former employees gathered in an internal Slack that they use to discuss the company’s travails. The rogue employee, who has not been identified, was an immediate source of fascination. “We’re now referring to this individual as ‘the legend,’” one former employee told The Verge. At the same time, the former employee was not surprised by the incident. “People have ‘dropped the mic’ in the past and deleted accounts, verified users, and otherwise abused their power on the last day,” the employee said. In each case, the employee said, the abuse was caught quickly and did not become public.