Twitter's content moderation lead quits
Ella Irwin assumed the role after Yoel Roth resigned in November
Ella Irwin, the Twitter executive responsible for content moderation and policy, has resigned, according to a statement given to Reuters on Thursday.
The news came after Fortune reported that Irwin's internal Slack account seemed to have been deactivated.
Irwin, who joined Twitter in June last year, assumed the role of head of the trust and safety team in November after the previous head, Yoel Roth, resigned. While serving as the head of Trust and Safety, Ella Irwin played a significant role in overseeing Twitter's policies regarding harassment, hate speech, and violent content.
Ella Irwin is the second head of Trust and Safety to resign following Elon Musk's takeover of the company. The first, Yoel Roth, became a vocal critic of the company after resigning from his role.
The specific reasons behind Irwin's resignation remain unclear at this time.
On Thursday, The Daily Wire, a conservative outlet, alleged that Twitter had "cancelled a deal" to host the film "What is a Woman" on its platform for free. The documentary criticises transgender individuals, a viewpoint that Elon Musk has previously stated is allowed on the social network.
"This was a mistake by many people at Twitter," Musk told Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing in tweet.
"It is definitely allowed."
It is unclear whether Irwin's resignation is directly linked to the incident involving the alleged cancellation of the documentary on Twitter.
Over the past six months, Twitter has undergone significant cost-cutting measures, resulting in the firings of thousands of employees. Among those affected were individuals who were previously involved in initiatives aimed at preventing illegal and harmful content, safeguarding election integrity, and promoting accurate information on the platform.
The platform's content moderation practices have come under increased scrutiny, leading to regulatory attention and potential implications for the company.
Last week, the European Union's internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton tweeted that the social media platform had withdrawn from the EU's Code of Practice on Disinformation - separating it from other digital platforms.
Breton warned Twitter that attempting to evade responsibility would not absolve it of its legal liabilities.
But Elon Musk is promoting a feature called Community Notes on Twitter, which allows users to provide additional context to tweets.
Twitter, since Elon Musk's takeover of the company, is also facing challenges in retaining advertisers, as brands have expressed concerns about their ads appearing alongside inappropriate or unsuitable content.
This week, financial services giant Fidelity said that Twitter is now valued at just one-third of the $44 billion that Elon Musk and co-investors had paid for it last year. Fidelity marked down the value of its equity stake in the firm, resulting in a new valuation for Twitter of approximately $15 billion.
Fidelity, along with other investors, had participated in financing Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter.
As of late April, Fidelity's stake in Twitter was valued at approximately $6.55 million, a decline from the valuation of $7.8 million as of 31st January and nearly $8.63 million at the end of November.
In another recent development, Elon Musk announced Linda Yaccarino, former advertising chief at NBCUniversal, as the new CEO of Twitter.
"My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops," he stated.
This move is likely aimed at addressing the platform's challenges and enhancing its relationship with advertisers. Musk has also stated that Twitter will make an effort to rehire some of the 6,300 employees who were laid off as part of what he referred to as a "desperate measure" in November.