Elon Musk’s Social Network: Impact of 80% Software Engineer Departures and Australian Regulator’s Actions

2024-01-11 07:48:14

Elon Musk’s social network About 80% of software engineers have left.

Australian internet regulator eSafety, which published the figures, said the “deep cuts” and the reinstatement of thousands of banned accounts had created “the worst possible situation” for the dissemination of harmful content.

In recent months, the regulator has focused particularly on X, previously saying its takeover by Elon Musk coincided with a spike in “toxicity and hatred” on the social network formerly known as Twitter.

Using Australia’s Online Safety Act, the eSafety Commission obtained a detailed list of software engineers, content moderators and other security personnel working at X.

Departure of 80% of engineers

Australian regulator Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, herself a former Twitter employee, said this was the first time the data had been made public. They show that 1,213 moderation staff specialists, including contractors, had left X since its acquisition by Elon Musk in October 2022, including 80% software engineers.

“Removing 80% of these specialized engineers is as if Volvo, renowned for its safety standards, separated itself from all its designers or engineers,” she said. According to her, this is “the worst situation. You considerably reduce your defenses and you once once more introduce repeat offenders onto the platform.”

In October, the eSafety Commission fined X 610,500 Australian dollars (348,550 francs) claiming that the platform did not clearly show that it was fighting once morest the proliferation of content of sexual assault on minors . But X ignored the deadline to pay the fine, before launching legal action to have it overturned.

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