UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Saturday issued an open letter to Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Twitter, saying "I urge you to ensure human rights are central to the management of Twitter under your leadership."

The letter followed reports of Twitter's massive layoff of staff on Friday, including its human rights team and ethical AI team.

"Respect for our shared human rights should set the guardrails for the platform's use and evolution," Turk said in the letter.

In the letter, he urged Twitter to stand up for the right to privacy, and stressed that the platform has a responsibility to avoid amplifying content that results in harm to other people's rights.

Apology from Twitter co-founder

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey apologized on Saturday for growing the company "too quickly."

"Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment," Dorsey wrote in a tweet. "I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that."

Musk completed a deal to buy Twitter at $44 billion in October, gaining control of the social network. 

According to media reports, the social media giant on Friday laid off thousands of employees in departments across the company as part of an aggressive plan to trim costs.

The company was silent about the depth of the cuts until late in the day, when head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth tweeted confirmation of internal plans, projecting the layoffs would affect about 3,700 people, or 50 percent of the staff.

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(With input from agencies)

(Cover: Elon Musk photo and Twitter logo are seen through magnifier in this illustration taken November 4, 2022. /Reuters)