Twitter removes brightly lit ‘X’ sign after safety, ‘nausea’ plaints

Workers on Monday dismantled a giant “X” sign that was only briefly displayed on the roof of Twitter‘s headquarters in San Francisco after residents complained and the city issued a violation notice for lacking proper permits, according to local officials. The sign was installed Friday to reflect the company’s new branding and spurred immediate concern. Over the weekend, the city received 24 complaints, which included concerns about its structural safety and flashing lights. One complaint described “extremely intense white stroboscopic light” that was “causing distress and nausea.” Another wrote that the sign looked “really unstable,” adding that “a decent earthquake is going to send that thing down on the street!”

Patrick Hannan, a spokesperson for the San Francisco department of building inspection, said in a statement that “building inspectors observed the structure being dismantled” Monday morning. “A building permit is required to make sure the sign is structurally sound and installed safely,” Hannan said. “Planning review and approval is also necessary for the installation of this sign.” The owner of the property where X is renting offices will have to pay the cost of permits to install and remove the sign, as well as the cost of the city’s investigation, according to Hannan
Late last month, San Francisco police had stopped workers from removing its bird logo from the side of the building, saying the workers had not blocked off the sidewalk to keep pedestrians safe if anything fell.

The chaotic rebrand of Twitter’s building signage is similar to the haphazard way in which the Twitter platform is being turned into X. In late July, Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who bought Twitter last year, renamed the platform X.com and replaced its blue and white bird logo. The changes were reflected inside Twitter’s San Francisco HQ – X logos were projected in the cafeteria and conference rooms were renamed – as well as outside. Early July 24, Musk shared a photo of a giant X projected on Twitter’s office building. But while the X logo has replaced Twitter on many parts of the site and app, remnants of Twitter remain. Representatives for X did not respond to a message for comment.