Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino Parrots Elon Musk’s ‘Global Town Square’ Talking Points in First Memo to Staffers

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Linda Yaccarino, who has taken over the role of CEO at Elon Musk’s Twitter, sent out her first communication to the social network’s employees Monday.

In her 320-word memo, Yaccarino, who jumped ship from NBCUniversal to join Twitter, didn’t spell out specifically how she plans to run Twitter’s operations or what the vision for “Twitter 2.0” is.

Instead, she borrowed some of the talking points of her boss, who has previously described Twitter as “the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” “From space exploration to electric vehicles, Elon knew these industries needed transformation, so he did it,” Yaccarino wrote in the memo. “More recently it has become increasingly clear that the global town square needs transformation — to drive civilization forward through the unfiltered exchange of information and open dialogue about the things that matter most to us.” Yaccarino also said that Twitter should be a place where you have “the freedom to speak your mind,” echoing the free-speech principles espoused by Musk, a self-proclaimed “absolutist” on issues of free expression.

Musk recently defended his comparison of billionaire financier George Soros to Marvel’s Jewish supervillain Magneto, saying in a CNBC interview that “I’ll say what I want to say, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it.” Musk last month officially announced Yaccarino, formerly NBCU’s top advertising sales exec, will take the helm as Twitter’s new CEO.