X with new platform security managers
Elon Musk's Twitter successor X has found new managers to make the platform safer for users and companies. As Head of Safety, Kylie McRoberts will deal with the problem of hate speech and other extremist content.
In addition, Yale Cohen is to make the service more attractive for companies, as X announced on Tuesday. Cohen comes from the advertising industry.
Hate speech is also a business problem for X. The service relies on advertising revenue - and companies do not want their brands to appear alongside posts with incitements to violence or anti-Semitic slogans, for example.
Advertising revenue halved since takeover
Since Musk took over Twitter in the fall of 2022, advertising revenue has halved. The tech billionaire promised radical freedom of speech on X within the limits of what is permitted by law. He is focusing on severely restricting the distribution of posts with problematic content instead of removing them. Two safety managers have already left since the takeover.
A few months ago, online researchers demonstrated how advertising from well-known brands can appear alongside anti-Semitic posts. Musk countered that the examples were artificially constructed and did not correspond to everyday use. Several major advertising clients have since cut back their spending on X or have done without it altogether. The head of X, Linda Yaccarino, who was appointed by Musk, is trying to convince them that the platform offers a safe environment for their brands.
Musk insults renegade advertising customers
Meanwhile, Musk viciously insulted renegade advertisers during an appearance a few months ago, claiming that they would be to blame if X were to fail. Musk, who is politically aligned with the US right, is particularly fierce in his attacks on the Disney Group and its CEO Bob Iger.
The X owner himself caused a scandal when he described a post with an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory as "actual truth". Musk later spoke of a mistake and misunderstanding and apologized. X emphasized on Tuesday that freedom of speech and security must coexist on the service. (SDA)
