Plot twist at X: Elon Musk hires moderators after firing them

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X hires content moderators for a new "Trust and Security" center in Austin.

‍Accordingto Bloomberg media, X (formerly Twitter) is hiring 100 people to create a "trust and security center of excellence" in Austin, Texas. Good news, since X is regularly criticized for its lack of moderation. Not surprising, since one of Elon Musk's first decisions after buying the platform in 2022 was to lay off around 80% of the company and gut the content moderation team.

"Fighting the sexual exploitation of children" platform

According to information published on X's blog on January 26, 2024 the new team will focus on "compliance with the platform's rules on violence and hate speech, with a particular focus on combating CSE (Child Sexual Exploitation)." The announcement comes just days before X CEO Linda Yaccarino is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee (January 31). Subject of the hearing: "protecting children online." Coincidence?

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X: Advertiser flight

As a self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist", Musk bought the platform ($44 billion) with the aim of making it the home of free speech, considered by the billionaire to be the "bedrock of a functioning democracy". How can this be achieved? By rolling back policies and efforts that, in his view, impeded free speech. A decision that quickly turned X into an (even more) toxic place, driving big advertisers away from the platform and causing X's valuation to plummet. According to a recent report, since its takeover by Elon Musk, the company has lost two-thirds of its initial value.

Is the "center of excellence for trust and security" a sign of positive change for the platform? Not really... According to the NYU Stern Report 2020 , at the time of its takeover Twitter had around 1,500 content moderators. Since the social network came under the billionaire's control, over 1,200 employees in charge of fighting abusive content online have reportedly been made redundant. In other words, the new 100-strong team is like a band-aid on a wooden leg.