Global Courant
SAN FRANCISCO — A top Twitter executive responsible for security and content moderation has left the company. Her departure comes shortly after owner Elon Musk publicly complained about the platform’s handling of posts about transgender topics.
The departure signaled a new wave of unrest among key Twitter executives since Musk took over last year.
Ella Irwin, head of trust and security at Twitter, confirmed her resignation in a pair of tweets late Friday. She did not say why she was leaving in the post, but her departure came shortly after Musk criticized Twitter’s handling of tweets about a conservative media company’s documentary questioning transgender medical treatment for children and teens.
Musk responded to complaints from Jeremy Boreing, co-CEO of the Daily Wire media company. Boreing said in tweets and retweets from conservative commentators on Thursday that Twitter suppressed the film by flagging posts about it as hate speech and keeping the film off trending topic lists.
Boreing tweeted that Twitter signed a deal for the premiere of “What is a Woman?” has cancelled. free on the platform “because of two instances of ‘misgendering’.” Twitter rules prohibit intentionally referring to transgender people as the wrong gender or name.
“This was a mistake by many people on Twitter. It’s definitely allowed,” Musk tweeted back. “Whether or not you agree with using someone’s favorite pronouns, not doing so is rude at best and certainly doesn’t break any laws.”
Irwin tweeted on Friday that “one or two people noticed” she had left the company the day before, noting that there was speculation about whether she had been fired or quit. She teased that she would post 24 tweets explaining her departure.
Then she posted that she was just joking about the long story.
“Seriously, I have resigned but this has been a once in a lifetime experience and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with this amazing team of passionate, creative and hard working people. I’ll be cheering you all on and Twitter as you go!
Besides Musk, Irwin has been the most prominent voice of the company’s ever-changing content policy in recent months.
Twitter has struggled to bring back advertisers turned off by Musk’s drastic changes and relaxation of anti-hate speech rules since he bought Twitter for $44 billion in October. Twitter also has an incoming CEO, Linda Yaccarino, known for decades of experience in the media and advertising industry, but she hasn’t started yet.
Irwin and Twitter did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Twitter has been in turmoil, including mass layoffs and voluntary departures, since billionaire owner Tesla bought the San Francisco company and took it private. The company’s head of trust and security left shortly after the acquisition, and top-line sales continued.
