Elon Musk's Management Style Has Made Twitter Unsafe, Says Former Top Official

Twitter's mass layoffs, coupled with a botched rollout of verifications for everyone has left a sour taste in all users of the platform. Now, a former top Twitter official has claimed that Elon Musk's abrasive management style could make Twitter less safe.

Yoel Roth was the head of Twitter's content moderation efforts before he resigned this month. Roth believes that Twitter's content moderation could get worse and the platform might not be able to keep vulnerable users safe under Elon Musk.

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Why Twitter has "went off the rails"

In a recent interview, Roth said that Twitter "went off the rails in exactly the ways that we anticipated." Twitter employees attempted to warn Musk of "obvious" problems that would surface if anyone could get a verified badge for $8 a month. He didn't listen, and the rollout led to chaos - with impersonations and fake news abound. Then, Twitter Blue was paused and verifications are set to resume this Friday.

Yoel Roth

Also read: Apple Threatening To Purge Twitter App From Its App Store, Claims Elon Musk

Roth claims that the paid verification feature was one of many factors that drove him to resign. Before he resigned, Roth was constantly making information public to Twitter users. He compared his final days at Twitter to overseeing a leaky dam, trying to plug holes but knowing that a leak might get past him.

According to Roth, Twitter could become a dangerous place owing to Musk's approach. For starters, there isn't enough workforce left to protect users from malicious actors. Roth feels that AI algorithms cannot catch some perpetrators. "People are not sitting still," he said. "They are actively devising new ways to be horrible on the internet."

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He added that users should gauge the safety of Twitter based on how well safety features like muting, blocking, and protected tweets work. "If protected tweets stop working, run," Roth said in the interview.

Also read: Twitter Has Lost 50 Of Its Top 100 Advertisers Since Elon Musk Took Over: Report

In the face of such crises, Twitter has lost many of its advertisers, who are becoming wary of placing their ads on Twitter. Musk has already brought back suspended accounts on the platform, marking a shift in Twitter's moderation efforts.

What do you think about the future of Twitter? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

References

Fung, B. (2022, November 30). Twitter is less safe due to Elon Musk¡¯s management style, says former top official. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/29/tech/yoel-roth-twitter-elon-musk/index.html