CBS News Resumes Twitter Posting After Hiatus Over ‘Security Concerns’

Todd Spangler
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CBS News is back tweeting on Twitter, after halting activity on the Elon Musk-owned social platform for some 40 hours because of “security concerns.”

“After pausing for much of the weekend to assess the security concerns, CBS News and Stations is resuming its activity on Twitter as we continue to monitor the situation,” the news org’s comms team tweeted Sunday morning at 9:36 a.m. ET.

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On Friday, CBS News had said that “In light of the uncertainty around Twitter and out of an abundance of caution, CBS News is pausing its activity on the social media site as it continues to monitor the platform.” Multiple advertisers have said they are freezing ad spending on Twitter amid the Musk-induced chaos, but CBS News had been the biggest media outlet to publicly say it was stepping back from Twitter.

CBS News’ caution was triggered by the drastic changes Musk has made at the company since taking Twitter private Oct. 27. He eliminated the senior management team, appointment himself CEO, and fired 50% of Twitter’s staff. Then on Nov. 17, hundreds of Twitter employees resigned after Musk had set a deadline for workers to confirm their commitment to “extremely hardcore” working conditions.

CBS News was particularly concerned about the security of information on Twitter, given the departure of key personnel responsible for managing that. The news outlet has been closely watching the situation to see if any of Twitter’s critical functions break down and whether Twitter is susceptible to hacking attacks.

The mass employee exodus from Twitter — now with a headcount estimated to be less than 2,500, down from 7,500 prior to Musk’s $44 billion acquisition — has escalated fears that the platform may start to break down operationally.

Musk, the world’s richest individual, has seemingly made changes unilaterally about Twitter processes and policies. On Saturday, he announced that Donald Trump’s account was being reactivated, coming after a poll of his Twitter followers showed a slim majority of votes favored the ex-president’s return to the platform.

Twitter banned Trump in January 2021, citing concerns that Trump’s tweets could provoke more violence in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. “Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Musk wrote, a Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people is the voice of God,” in reversing the decision about Trump’s account. Trump has claimed he will not resume posting on Twitter because he wants to remain on his company’s far smaller Truth Social app.

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