Hundreds of the firm's remaining staff rejected Musk’s ultimatum of agreeing to work "more intensely" in order to keep their jobs at the company, an industry expert has said. This standoff raises the very real possibility of Twitter being knocked offline, an event likelihood that has “dramatically increased” in the past 24 hours. 

Matt Navarra, a social media consultant and industry analyst, said it was unlikely the site would go down in the next few days, but he warned that the service was under increased strain as key engineers charged with maintaining the site have left the company, just as a major event for Twitter – the FIFA World Cup in Qatar – begins this weekend.

Concerns have grown over the site’s ability to stay online after Musk fired half of the company’s 7,500 workers, as well as a number of additional contractors.

Hundreds more staff members are now reported to have left of their own accord after not agreeing to an ultimatum...