Twitter’s press email is automatically “pooping” on the media

Elon Musk is a fan of the poop emoji, once memorably tweeting a 💩 to then-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal while he was in negotiations to buy the social media service. Now, the Twitter CEO and Tesla founder is conveying a similar message to one of his favorite targets: the media: Emails sent to [email protected] receive a poop emoji as an auto-reply.

Musk announced the policy on Sunday, and CBS MoneyWatch tested it Monday morning. 

Users replied to Musk’s announcement with a mixture of their own poop emojis, applause GIFs and some comments questioning Musk’s judgment. Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake wrote, “That’s exactly the comment they deserve.” By contrast, another user asked, “Are you 12.”

The change comes after Twitter’s former email for journalists with questions about the company had gone dormant for months. It has been widely reported that the social media company axed its public relations staff in the multiple rounds of layoffs that followed Musk’s takeover of Twitter in October. In 2020, Tesla also mostly disbanded its PR department, although today the electric car company occasionally answers press inquiries.

Musk, who is known to communicate more brusquely and directly than most CEOs, has long had a strained relationship with the media. He has previously accused reporters covering Tesla of bias and even alleged some of being  in cahoots with the automaker’s rivals. 

In February, Musk also accused the media of being “racist against whites & Asians” in a defense of comic creator Scott Adams, whose strip “Dilbert” was dropped by many newspapers after a racist tirade.