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- Jun 22, 2020
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The executive tasked with policing content on Twitter Inc. might seem an unlikely ally for Elon Musk, a self-described free-speech absolutist.
Yoel Roth, Twitter’s global head of safety and security, was maligned by critics a couple of years ago as the embodiment of the company’s alleged bias against conservative users, an issue Mr. Musk has vowed to address.
Yet in the chaotic period since Mr. Musk took over Twitter, the billionaire has publicly defended Mr. Roth and positioned him to be a key player in plans to overhaul how the social-media platform moderates content. With Mr. Roth, Mr. Musk appears to have found a partner for achieving the goal he tweeted Sunday of making Twitter “by far the most accurate source of information about the world.”
Mr. Roth is among a handful of remaining members of Twitter’s senior leadership team after Mr. Musk assumed ownership on Oct. 27 and fired most executives, including the chief executive, financial chief and legal chief. A few days later, Mr. Musk defended Mr. Roth when a user pointed out that Mr. Roth tweeted in 2017 that “actual Nazis” occupied the White House.
“We’ve all made some questionable tweets, me more than most, but I want to be clear that I support Yoel,” Mr. Musk tweeted. “My sense is that he has high integrity, and we are all entitled to our political beliefs.”
Those remarks and others made by Mr. Musk in recent days show that moderation has become a central issue for the billionaire, as Twitter deals with a sudden steep drop-off in revenue and the aftermath of layoffs he ordered late last week that pared about 50% of employees. Mr. Musk is now dealing with managing one of the world’s biggest megaphones, with help from Mr. Roth.
Mr. Roth’s role at Twitter reached public attention in 2020, when his photo was featured on the cover of the New York Post with an article that described him as a biased fact-checker for the platform. At the time, Twitter had recently labeled several of former President Donald Trump’s tweets as misinformation. According to the article, Mr. Roth allegedly had “a history of bashing Trump and other conservatives.”
www.wsj.com
Yoel Roth, Twitter’s global head of safety and security, was maligned by critics a couple of years ago as the embodiment of the company’s alleged bias against conservative users, an issue Mr. Musk has vowed to address.
Yet in the chaotic period since Mr. Musk took over Twitter, the billionaire has publicly defended Mr. Roth and positioned him to be a key player in plans to overhaul how the social-media platform moderates content. With Mr. Roth, Mr. Musk appears to have found a partner for achieving the goal he tweeted Sunday of making Twitter “by far the most accurate source of information about the world.”
Mr. Roth is among a handful of remaining members of Twitter’s senior leadership team after Mr. Musk assumed ownership on Oct. 27 and fired most executives, including the chief executive, financial chief and legal chief. A few days later, Mr. Musk defended Mr. Roth when a user pointed out that Mr. Roth tweeted in 2017 that “actual Nazis” occupied the White House.
“We’ve all made some questionable tweets, me more than most, but I want to be clear that I support Yoel,” Mr. Musk tweeted. “My sense is that he has high integrity, and we are all entitled to our political beliefs.”
Those remarks and others made by Mr. Musk in recent days show that moderation has become a central issue for the billionaire, as Twitter deals with a sudden steep drop-off in revenue and the aftermath of layoffs he ordered late last week that pared about 50% of employees. Mr. Musk is now dealing with managing one of the world’s biggest megaphones, with help from Mr. Roth.
Mr. Roth’s role at Twitter reached public attention in 2020, when his photo was featured on the cover of the New York Post with an article that described him as a biased fact-checker for the platform. At the time, Twitter had recently labeled several of former President Donald Trump’s tweets as misinformation. According to the article, Mr. Roth allegedly had “a history of bashing Trump and other conservatives.”
Twitter’s Moderation Boss Is an Unlikely Ally of Elon Musk
Yoel Roth, who has been accused of being anticonservative, polices the site’s content.
www.wsj.com
