Twitter loses another trust and safety head: Here's why
Twitter loses another trust and safety head: Here's why
02 Jun 2023
Ella Irwin became Twitter's head of trust and safety after the previous chief, Yoel Roth quit the company. Now, six months after Roth left, Irwin has resigned from the company.
Irwin confirmed her decision to Reuters.
Let's see what may have led to Irwin's resignation from the firm.
Why does this story matter?
Fact
Since Musk's takeover of Twitter, we have been hearing about the microblogging platform's content moderation policies or lack thereof. The company has been facing increasing scrutiny from regulators over its policies related to content moderation. Advertisers have also been highly critical of how the platform deals with certain content. At a time like this, Irwin's resignation will make it even harder for Twitter.
Irwin replaced Roth in November last year
Ella Irwin
Irwin joined Twitter in June 2022, a few months before Musk acquired the company. In November, she took over as the trust and safety head after Roth resigned.
Being the leader of Twitter's trust and safety team has been a historically tough job. This is primarily because of the public and regulatory scrutiny they face.
Her predecessor clashed with Musk on various topics
Roth
Her predecessor Roth was briefly one of the faces of the new Twitter Musk was building after the takeover. He, however, famously left the company a day after the rollout of Twitter Blue.
Explaining why he left the platform to NPR, Roth said he resigned because Musk started making "arbitrary and capricious" decisions.
It was clear he clashed with Musk on various topics.
Irwin seemed to support Musk's hand-off approach to content moderation
Irwin and Musk
Irwin and Musk did not seem to have any issues between them. Musk's hands-off approach to content moderation blossomed during her tenure.
Then why did she quit the company? We do not know the answer to that, but it may have something to do with the latest drama on Twitter.
It involves the conservative news outlet Daily Wire and a film it made.
What is the drama du jour on Twitter?
Controversy
Yesterday, Daily Wire claimed Twitter pulled out of an agreement to show its documentary titled What is a woman for free on the platform.
Jeremy Boreing, Daily Wire's CEO, also said Twitter labeled part of the content "hateful conduct."
Replying to this, Musk said, "this was a mistake by many people at Twitter." Irwin might be one of those "people."
Irwin's exit could be related to 'Daily Wire' controversy
Exits
The Daily Wire controversy could be the reason behind Irwin's exit. It seemed like Twitter has competing content moderating factions and Musk did not want that.
But Iwrin is not the first senior executive to leave the platform. The company's chief privacy officer Damien Kieran, chief compliance officer Marianne Fogarty, and cybersecurity executive Lea Kissner resigned around the same time Roth left.
'What is a woman' explores the concept of gender
Documentary
What is a woman is a controversial 2022 feature-length documentary that stars conservative political commentator Matt Walsh. The documentary explores the changing concept of gender in the modern world.
In the film, we can see Walsh asking different people "What is a woman?" and related questions about gender identity.
It was received well by conservative commentators, while others branded it transphobic.
Ketanji Brown Jackson didn't answer 'What is a woman?'
Difficult question
Debates surrounding gender identity have increased in the US. The question "What is a woman?" is being asked to determine where people stand on the issue.
In 2022, US Supreme Court judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was asked the same during her confirmation hearing. She said, "I'm not a biologist."
Her inability to provide a concrete answer was criticized by Republicans.
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