Twitter relies heavily on automation to moderate post content. Billionaire Elon Musk’s social media company is phasing out certain manual reviews, preferring to limit the spread of posts rather than removing comments entirely.
That is what the new head of the division that deals with security and trust told Reuters news agency. Twitter will also take a tougher approach to abusive hashtags and search results in areas such as child exploitation, regardless of the potential consequences for “benign use” of those terms, said Ella Irwin, Twitter’s Vice President of Trust and Safety Product.
Researchers notice an increase in hate speech on the social media service. That came especially after Musk announced a pardon for accounts that had been suspended under the company’s previous leadership but had not broken the law or engaged in “serious spam.”
The company then received many questions about its ability and willingness to moderate harmful and illegal content. Especially after Musk fired half of Twitter’s staff and issued an ultimatum to work long hours. Hundreds more employees left because of that last comment.
Income source
Meanwhile, advertisers have fled the platform over security concerns. Advertisements are the company’s main source of income. Irwin said Musk encouraged the team to worry less about how certain actions might affect user growth or revenue. She said safety was the company’s top priority.
Irwin, who joined the company in June and previously held security roles at other companies including Amazon and Google, also responded to comments that Twitter lacked the resources or willingness to protect the platform. She said that employees dedicated to moderating content in critical areas such as child safety, the company’s so-called Health divisions, were largely unaffected by the layoffs.
However, according to sources, half of the personnel of this division has been laid off. Irwin denied that the Health team was hit hard by layoffs. For example, the number of people working on child safety would not be reduced. The product manager for the team is also still there.
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