INTERNAL TURMOIL AND ACCOUNTABILITY CONCERNS: TWITTER’S TOP TRUST AND SAFETY OFFICER RESIGNS
In a surprising turn of events, Ella Irwin, the head of trust and safety at Twitter, has announced her resignation, citing ongoing challenges related to the management of harmful content on the platform. This comes at a time when Twitter has been under scrutiny for its lax protections against such content since being acquired by billionaire Elon Musk in October.
Irwin, who assumed her role in November after the departure of the previous head, Yoel Roth, had been responsible for overseeing content moderation on Twitter. However, the company’s response to her resignation raised eyebrows, as an email sent to Twitter returned an automated reply featuring a poop emoji. Irwin declined to comment further, while Musk remained silent on the matter.
The departure of Irwin comes as Twitter has been grappling with the loss of advertisers, with brands growing increasingly cautious about being associated with unsuitable content. Musk, in an attempt to address these concerns, recently announced the appointment of Linda Yaccarino, former NBCUniversal advertising chief, as Twitter’s new CEO.
It appears that Twitter’s cost-cutting measures, implemented since Musk’s acquisition, have resulted in the laying off of numerous employees involved in efforts to combat harmful and illegal content, safeguard election integrity, and promote accurate information on the platform. Reports have even emerged suggesting that Irwin’s internal Slack account had been deactivated, raising questions about the circumstances surrounding her resignation.
In response to the mounting challenges, Musk has introduced a feature called Community Notes, which allows users to provide additional context to tweets, aiming to combat the spread of misinformation. However, Twitter’s moderation efforts have not gone unnoticed by regulators, as the company recently withdrew from a voluntary agreement with the European Union to tackle disinformation, despite affirming its commitment to complying with forthcoming internet regulations in the EU.
Thierry Breton, the EU industry chief, cautioned Twitter last week, emphasizing that the company cannot evade its legal obligations within the EU after exiting the voluntary agreement. As Twitter navigates this period of transition and heightened scrutiny, users and regulators alike await further developments to see how the social media giant will address the ongoing challenges of content moderation and protection.
