 |
| Twitter is taking another risk by laying off half of its key global public policy staff |
Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Twitter's head of public policy left the company along with other management employees on Thursday.
Reuters quoted two sources as saying that Sinead McSweeney, vice president of global public policy, has left Twitter and has been replaced by Nick Pickles, senior director of global public policy strategy.
Regulators around the world have questioned Twitter's ability to moderate content and protect user data after Musk cut staff numbers from more than 7,000 to fewer than 2,000, prompting more layoffs and the departure of a top Twitter executive. The officials drove.
Twitter's public policy team works with lawmakers and civil society on issues such as freedom of expression, privacy, and online safety. It handles requests from governments and civil rights groups to remove questionable content and sets rules to protect vulnerable users.
A source from Reuters said downsizing of the public order department could lead to a backlog of inquiries received and it might not be able to carry out some of the directives under implementation.
Last month, EU Commissioner Thierry Bretton told Musk that going forward the platform would be under pressure to comply with EU rules on content moderation, disinformation removal, and advertising restrictions. The European Union will conduct rigorous testing early next year to assess compliance.
The European Union should monitor Twitter directly because its erratic behavior under Musk threatens freedom of expression, a senior German official said Thursday.
Half of the 30 remaining members of Twitter's public policy team were sacked on Wednesday, a source from Reuters said, marking the layoffs of 15 workers.
This week, media reported that McSweeney, who lives in Dublin, Ireland, kept his job at Twitter after obtaining a restraining order for refusing to respond to a company-wide email from Musk, in which the employee said he was asked to accept a permanent job in order to prevent the company from offering it. and work long hours. or get out of work.
Musk said on Wednesday that Twitter is heading toward a "negative cash position of $3 billion per year" before completing the cost-cutting measures he began following the $44 billion acquisition of the company, but is now close to break-even with total cash. next step.