Twitter head of content security resigns after Elon Musk criticism

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A senior Twitter executive responsible for security and content moderation has left the company, his departure coming shortly after owner Elon Musk publicly complained about the platforms’ handling of posts on transgender topics.

The departure signaled a fresh wave of unrest among senior Twitter officials since Musk took over last year.

Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of trust and safety, confirmed her resignation in a pair of tweets Friday night. She didn’t say in the post why she was leaving, but her departure came shortly after Musk criticized Twitter’s handling of tweets about a documentary by a conservative media company that questions transgender medical treatment. for children and teenagers.

Musk was responding to complaints from Jeremy Boreing, co-CEO of media company Daily Wire. Boreing said in tweets and retweets from conservative commenters on Thursday that Twitter was removing the film, flagging posts about it as hate speech and keeping the film off of trending topic lists.

Boreing tweeted that Twitter had canceled a deal for the first What’s a Woman? for free on the platform due to two cases of misunderstanding. Twitter rules intentionally prohibit referring to transgender people with the wrong gender or name.

This was a mistake made by many people on Twitter. It’s definitely allowed, Musk tweeted. Whether or not you agree with the use of someone’s favorite pronouns, not doing so is rude at best and certainly doesn’t break any laws.

Irwin tweeted on Friday that one or two people had noticed that she had left the company the day before, and she noted speculation that she had been fired or resigned. She teased that she would post 24 tweets to explain her departure.

Then she posted that she was joking about the long story.

Seriously, I quit, but it was a once in a lifetime experience and I’m so grateful to have worked with this amazing team of passionate, creative, and hardworking people. I’ll be encouraging you all and Twitter as I go!

Next to Musk, Irwin had been the most important voice of the company’s ever-changing content policies over the past few months.

Twitter has struggled to bring back advertisers discouraged by Musk’s drastic changes and relaxation of rules against hate speech since he bought Twitter for $44 billion in October. Twitter also has an incoming CEO, Linda Yaccarino, known for decades of experience in the media and advertising industry, but she hasn’t started yet.

Irwin and Twitter did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Twitter has been in turmoil, including mass layoffs and voluntary departures since Tesla’s billionaire owner bought the San Francisco company and took it private. The company’s head of trust and security left shortly after the takeover, and turnover in senior ranks continued. Last month, Twitter fired two other top executives.

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