Yoel Roth, who has quit Twitter as Head of Trust and Safety, has said as Elon Musk perpetuates a lack of legitimacy through his impulsive changes and tweet-length pronouncements about platform rules, Twitter is now facing close scrutiny by both Apple and Google app stores.
In a New York Times article amid the #RIPTwitter trending on social media, Roth said that “Twitter will have to balance its new owner’s goals against the practical realities of life on Apple and Google’s internet, no easy task for the employees who have chosen to remain”.
“And as I departed the company, the calls from the app review teams had already begun,” Roth wrote late on Friday.
The instances of racial slurs on Twitter have increased since Musk bought the influential platform, despite assurances from the platform that it has reduced hate activity.
Roth said that in appointing himself “Chief Twit”, Musk has made clear that at the end of the day, he’ll be the one calling the shots.
“It was for this reason that I ultimately chose to leave the company: A Twitter whose policies are defined by unilateral edict has little need for a trust and safety function dedicated to its principled development,” he emphasized.
Thousands of employees resigned this week after Musk forced them to sign a form to perform “extremely hardcore” work duties.
Roth said that “the moderating influences of advertisers, regulators, and — most critically of all — app stores may be welcome for those of us hoping to avoid an escalation in the volume of dangerous speech online”.
So where will Twitter go from here?
“Some of the company’s decisions in the weeks and months to come, like the near-certainty of allowing Donald Trump’s account back on the service, will have an immediate, perceptible impact,” wrote Roth who worked at Twitter for seven years and under whom, his Twitter team was once touted as “custodians of the internet.”
