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Elon Musk’s Twitter made another dramatic move Monday evening, disbanding its Trust and Safety Council.
The volunteer council was dissolved by email shortly before a planned Zoom meeting with Twitter execs, reports the Washington Post. Sources told the Post that members expecting to meet instead received a message with “Thank You” in the subject line. The text stated that the council wasn’t ideal for bringing “external insights” into Twitter as a product or for “policy development work.”
Here’s more from the Post:
Dozens of civil rights leaders, academics and advocates from around the world had volunteered their time for years to help improve safety on the platform.
“We are grateful for your engagement, advice and collaboration in recent years and wish you every success in the future,” said the email, which was simply signed “Twitter.”
A source speaking anonymously to the paper out of fear of harassment said Twitter was dumping “years of institutional memory” and that “external experts and advocates looking at your services makes you smarter.”
The board’s demise came after Musk attacked former Twitter executive Yoel Roth over the weekend. Once tasked with trust and safety oversight, Roth and his family reportedly had to flee their San Francisco home after Musk tweeted statements misrepresenting Roth’s academic studies related to sexual activity and minors.
Roth and other Twitter users who had chatted with him also received threats, with a source close to Roth telling the Post that Roth’s loved ones and acquaintances deleted their accounts out of fear.
Roth continued in his role as head of trust and safety for two weeks following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, defending his new boss in interviews about the changeover. By mid-November, Roth had resigned, later publishing an op-ed in the New York Times in which he said he’d left Twitter in part because “a Twitter whose policies are defined by edict has little need for a trust and safety function dedicated to its principled development.”
