Two top Twitter executives in charge of keeping the site free and safe from harmful content have resigned. Departures occur at a key time. The social network is about to undergo a resistance test organized by the European Union (EU), to assess whether the company complies with the Digital Services Law.
The head of brand safety and ad quality, AJ Brown, has decided to leave the company, it was reported today. Reuters. Brown was the responsible for preventing ads from appearing alongside inappropriate content within the social network. She had worked at Twitter for more than six years.
The resignation comes just one day after Vice President of Trust and Safety Ella Irwin’s departure from Twitter. she was the Harassment, Hate and Violent Content Policy Supervisorrules that have been relaxed since Musk took control of the company in October of last year.
Sources inside the company had said that Irwin was one of Musk’s most esteemed directors. Irwin the second Trust and Security chief to resign since Musk took office. The first, Yoel Roth, left the company in November of last year.
The EU will put Twitter to the test
As if the resignations were not enough, Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, stated that Twitter will undergo a test of resistance to determine to what extent it complies with the EU Digital Services Law.
A team of between 5 and 10 specialists would participate in the exercise, reported the Wall Street Journal. The test is likely to take place during a visit by regulators to San Francisco, USA, at the end of June. Breton has pointed out that this exam is voluntary and will not carry a fine nor other formal consequences. Be some kind of drill what might happen when the law is formally applied.
Twitter was classified at the end of April as a “very large online platform”, in accordance with the provisions of the Digital Services Law. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google and Wikipedia, among others, also appear in this category. This means, for example, that this type of company must respond to independent audits to verify that they comply with the legislation.
“Very large online platforms” had, from that announcement, four months to comply with the requirements of the law’s obligations, including the first annual risk assessment. “The countdown has begun” Breton said at the time.
The official of the European Commission has already warned Elon Musk that he has to take action. Above all, against harmful content. Since the tycoon bought Twitter, misogynist and anti-Semitic posts have skyrocketed. And in early April, the company rescinded a policy that prevented harassment of trans people.