‘X’ logo installed on Twitter building prompts permit complaint from San Francisco

The city of San Francisco has a problem with the shiny new “X” logo sitting atop the downtown building formerly known as Twitter’s headquarters.

City officials have filed a complaint and opened an investigation into whether owner Elon Musk had the proper permits to install the sign, which was erected Friday. Days earlier, Musk announced that Twitter would be rebranded to “X” as part of his ambitious plan to create an “everything app.”

Twitter’s iconic blue bird logo is gone from the website, and workers were seen in downtown San Francisco on Monday removing “Twitter” lettering from a sign outside the company’s headquarters. However, police stopped the work, because someone complained that they hadn’t taped off the sidewalk to keep pedestrians safe from falling debris.

San Francisco police later said there had been a “misunderstanding” among security, the building and the business over whether the workers had permits to take the sign down. An investigation concluded that no crime had been committed and that the incident was not a police matter. 

POLICE STOP WORK AT TWITTER HQ IN CRIME-RIDEN SAN FRANCISCO OVER PERMIT ‘MISUNDERSTANDING’

Workers install lighting on an “X” sign atop the downtown San Francisco building that housed what was formally known as Twitter, now rebranded X by owner Elon Musk, Friday, July 28, 2023.  (AP Photo/Noah Berger / AP Newsroom)

The city requires permits for replacing letters or symbols on buildings, or erecting a sign on top of one, for design and safety reasons. 

Any replacement letters or symbols would require a permit to ensure “consistency with the historic nature of the building” and to make sure additions are safely attached to the sign, Patrick Hannan, spokesperson for the Department of Building Inspection, said earlier this week.

Installing a sign on top of a building also requires a permit, Hannan said Friday.

“Planning review and approval is also necessary for the installation of this sign. The city is opening a complaint and initiating an investigation,” he told the Associated Press.

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The new metal X marker appeared after police stopped workers on Monday, July 24, from removing the iconic bird and logo, saying they didn’t have the proper permits and hadn’t taped off the sidewalk to keep pedestrians safe from falling material. (AP Photo/Haven Daley / AP Newsroom)

Fox Business has reached out to X Corp and the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection for comment. 

X Corp’s new logo was displayed on its building Monday night, though the “er” in “Twitter” was not yet taken down from the sign. 

In a tweet sent Monday, Musk wrote that Twitter “was acquired by X Corp both to ensure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for X, the everything app.” 

“This is not simply a company renaming itself, but doing the same thing,” he added.

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The city has launched an investigation into the sign as city officials say replacing letters or symbols on buildings, or erecting a sign on top of one, requires a permit.  (AP Photo/Noah Berger / AP Newsroom)

Twitter limited posts to 140 characters until 2017, when it doubled the limit to 280. After Musk took over the company, paying Twitter Blue subscribers could share longer posts, which started with a limit of 4,000 characters that has since increased to 10,000. Twitter Blue users can now also post two-hour videos, such as full-length sporting events, to the platform – a feature not available before. 

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“The Twitter name made sense when it was just 140 character messages going back and forth – like birds tweeting – but now you can post almost anything, including several hours of video,” Musk wrote in his post on Monday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.