Twitter Dissolves Trust and Safety Council With Nothing to Replace It

Twitter announced Monday that it has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council. The council has for the past year advised the social media company on issues such as harassment and hate speech, according to an email obtained by Reuters.

Twitter had around 3,700 employees when Elon Musk took over as owner on October 27. About half of the Twitter workforce has been laid-off since Elon Musk took control of the company and more than 1000 have resigned, including Yoel Roth, formerly head of trust and safety.

A 1,000-strong council comprised civil rights groups, academics, and other civic organizations assembled to advise Twitter on issues ranging from privacy to safety. “We’ve made progress in addressing these challenges, but we’re not satisfied yet,” the email from Twitter Elon Musk to council members said. “As Twitter moves into the next phase, we are re-evaluating how best to incorporate outside perspectives into our product and policy decisions.”

A Twitter page for the council has been deleted. The council advocated for the safety and advised Twitter as it developed products and policies, according to a web archival for the page.

The National Center for Child Protection, which was a member of the council, will be “keeping a lookout for how” they restructure, said Gavin Portnoy, the center’s vice president. “For the moment,” he added, “we’ll continue to encourage reporting to the CyberTipline and hope to continue to have a seat at the table to address child safety on Twitter.”

Last week, three members of the Trust and Safety Council resigned, warning that the “safety and wellbeing of Twitter’s users are on the decline.” Musk responded to replies to their tweet announcing their resignation, writing, “It’s a crime that they refused  to take action on child exploitation for years!”