X, Elon Musk’s social media platform, recently announced the hiring of a new head of safety, Kylie McRoberts, a former Twitter employee. McRoberts will oversee the global safety team and help build a new safety hub in Austin, Texas. This move comes after the resignation of the former safety leader, Yoel Roth, following Musk’s takeover of the company. X has faced criticism for allowing the spread of hateful speech, conspiracy theories, and controversial content on the platform, including the restoration of accounts of white supremacists and other rule violators.
In addition to McRoberts, X also hired Yale Cohen, a former executive at Publicis Media, as the head of brand safety and advertising solutions. These hires are part of X’s efforts to encourage advertisers to return to the platform. However, both new leaders may face challenges due to Musk’s controversial behavior on the platform. Musk has been criticized for promoting radical, far-right conspiracy theories on X, undermining efforts to improve the brand’s reputation.
McRoberts has previously worked on X safety features such as content restriction labels and will now focus on developing new products, tools, and features to improve platform safety. The company aims to enhance its safety policies and enforcement methods under McRoberts’ leadership. X CEO Linda Yaccarino has testified about safety on the platform before a Senate committee and stated that the company has around 2,300 employees working on trust and safety and content moderation.
McRoberts’ background in privacy and cybersecurity roles at Google suggests a shift in the perspective on safety at X. This change may result in less focus on content moderation, which Musk has expressed distaste for, and more emphasis on compliance with existing laws to protect users. Musk has also announced a change in the name of X’s Trust and Safety team to simply the Safety team, emphasizing the importance of earning trust rather than assuming it. The goal of the Safety team is to ensure compliance with laws and protect the platform’s users.
Overall, X is making efforts to improve safety measures on the platform by hiring new leadership and focusing on developing new tools and features to protect users. The company faces challenges due to Musk’s controversial behavior and the spread of harmful content on the platform. By making changes to the safety team and implementing new policies, X aims to enhance trust and ensure compliance with existing laws to safeguard its community.
