Twitter Spaces under strain as Musk DeSantis broadcast faces technical hurdles
An online broadcast featuring US presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and Twitter chief executive Elon Musk drew attention for repeated technical problems that disrupted the Spaces session. Reporters close to the company described a moment of visible frustration as the platform struggled to stay stable during the discussion.
Observers noted that Musk appeared exasperated by the platform issues on May 24. The focus for many was less on the content and more on the reliability of the audio spaces, especially given Musk had trimmed a large engineering team in recent months, shrinking a group once believed essential to keeping services running smoothly.
Multiple voices familiar with the matter said Musk’s mood reflected ongoing concerns about software stability. The event, intended to broadcast smoothly, faced a cascade of interruptions that raised questions about the health of the service during high-traffic moments.
Users reported that the Spaces session experienced delays and occasional outages, with the broadcast starting more than twenty minutes late due to technical malfunctions. Estimates from those who monitored the stream suggested the audience reached roughly seven hundred thousand listeners at its peak.
Three employees who spoke with a major news outlet described internal worries within the company about whether the platform could effectively manage the incoming load during moments of elevated activity. They emphasized that Spaces had not been presented as a finished product but as a project in active testing, approaching a beta-like state where refinement continues in real time.
During the same period, six former Twitter staff members started to bring legal action. They alleged breach of contract, substandard working conditions, and other claims regarding Musk’s management approach. The suits highlighted ongoing debates about governance, responsibilities, and accountability at the social network during a period of rapid change.
In parallel, industry observers noted that high profile broadcasts on social platforms increasingly test the resilience of streaming infrastructure. The DeSantis-Musk session served as a high visibility case study for platform reliability under pressure, illustrating how engineering cuts can intersect with user expectations during major political events. Analysts suggest that real time feedback from large audiences is pushing social networks to accelerate testing cycles, improve fault tolerance, and communicate more clearly about known issues. [Citation: Tech coverage for platform reliability during live events]
For users, the episode underscored the importance of stable audio delivery during live discussions. Stakeholders continue to watch how Twitter’s engineering leadership responds to outages, how product teams prioritize stability versus new features, and how governance decisions influence the pace of future updates. The outcome of ongoing investigations and internal assessments may shape policy discussions and the approach the company takes toward large scale live events in the months ahead. [Citation: Industry analysis on platform stability and governance]