In a surprising turn of events, Ella Irwin, the head of trust and safety at Twitter, has announced her resignation from the company.
Speculation surrounding her departure arose after Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk, publicly supported an anti-transgender video that was shared on the platform.
Late on Friday, Irwin took to her Twitter account to address the situation, stating, “I know there’s been a lot of speculation regarding what happened. I did resign but this has been a once in a lifetime experience.”
However, she did not disclose the specific reasons behind her sudden departure from Twitter.
Irwin is the second head of trust and safety to leave Twitter since Musk, the eccentric billionaire, acquired the platform.
Under Musk’s ownership, content moderation has been significantly reduced, essentially allowing anything that is within the bounds of the law.
Since assuming control of Twitter in October last year, Musk has consistently courted controversy.
He has fired a large portion of the company’s staff, reinstated previously banned accounts, suspended journalists, and implemented charges for services that were once free.
In a May interview with CNBC, Musk boldly stated that he will continue to express his unfiltered thoughts on Twitter, regardless of any negative impact on his businesses.
When asked about the consequences of his controversial tweets affecting Twitter’s ad sales or Tesla’s share price, he bluntly responded, “I don’t care. I’ll say what I want to say, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it.”
Irwin’s resignation coincides with mounting pressure on Twitter regarding an anti-transgender video called “What Is A Woman.”
Supporters of the video allege that Twitter reneged on a deal to distribute the content freely on the platform.
These supporters argue that the video was being suppressed due to its failure to use individuals’ preferred pronouns in the context of gender identification.
Musk engaged in a Twitter exchange with the conservative outlet responsible for the video, asserting that while the video may be “rude,” it does not violate any laws.
As of late Friday, a post promoting the video, proclaiming “Every parent should watch this,” remained pinned at the top of Musk’s Twitter account.
According to reports from US media, at least one other high-level Twitter executive has departed following this incident.
The controversy comes at a critical time, just weeks before Linda Yaccarino, a respected media and advertising executive, is set to replace Musk as Twitter’s chief executive.
Advertisers have been unsettled by Musk’s actions, leading many to withdraw from the platform due to concerns about their products being associated with troubling content.
Since Musk’s acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion, the platform’s value has plummeted, with the resurgence of far-right figures and a loss of trust among users.
