Twitter's head of Trust & Safety Yoel Roth resigned on November 10; sources: head of ad sales Robin Wheeler also resigned, but Elon Musk convinced her to stay
Elon Musk, in his first address to Twitter Inc. employees since purchasing the company for $44 billion …
Bloomberg
Context & Ripple Effects
Twitter lost its trust-and-safety chief while Musk persuaded its ad-sales leader to remain, tying two operationally linked functions—policy enforcement and advertiser relationships—to a rapidly changing leadership structure. Subsequent coverage reports Wheeler’s departure despite that reprieve, while Roth later described policy being set by unilateral edict.
First-order effects
Yoel Roth’s exit removes Twitter’s named Trust & Safety leader as Musk takes direct control of the company’s policy direction.
Robin Wheeler’s decision to stay preserves continuity for Twitter’s ad-sales organization in the immediate term.
Second-order effects
The later reported loss of Wheeler means Twitter’s advertiser-facing operation faces the same leadership instability already affecting trust and safety.
Roth’s account of policy by unilateral edict makes trust and safety less of an independent operating function and more dependent on Musk’s decisions.
Third-order effects
If policy and commercial leadership continue to turn over together, Twitter’s ability to treat trust and safety as a durable institutional function weakens, concentrating platform governance in the owner’s office.
The trend: Twitter’s post-acquisition transition shows platform trust and advertiser operations becoming more centralized around owner-directed policy decisions.
Right now the timeline feels kind of like the day those llamas escaped, except this time the llamas are loose in Twitter HQ and are trying to shut the company down
Elon Musk tells Twitter staff bankruptcy is possible, sources say. Yoel Roth, the head of trust and safety, and Robin Wheeler, who was leading that big Twitter spaces call with advertisers, are both now out, sources add. Also, no more free food. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Per @KurtWagner8, @yoyoel has resigned. https://twitter.com/... His bio reflects the status change. A huge loss for @Twitter, & & an even bigger one for the trust & safety of humans who use it. https://twitter.com/...
A source tells me both @yoyoel AND @robinw are leaving @twitter, the day after they hosted a Twitter Spaces with @elonmusk for the ad community — Musk's plans to court any advertisers is over https://twitter.com/...
It is sad to see @elonmusk expunge and drive away so much talent at @Twitter and push safety aside. I continue to think the below is a solid formula for an approach to the business but he is not doing what I thought he would. He is totally flailing and causing way more pain. http…
According to messages shared in Twitter Slack, Twitter's CISO, chief privacy office, and chief compliance officer all resigned last night. An employee says it will be up to engineers to “self-certify compliance with FTC requirements and other laws.”
SCOOP from @alexeheath: Twitter's chief privacy officer, chief compliance officer, and chief information security officer have all quit. Internal note warns that violating FTC privacy settlement could destroy the company but Elon doesn't seem to care. https://www.theverge.com/...…
Strong statement from FTC, following the security and privacy departures at Twitter: “We are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern. No CEO or company is above the law, and companies must follow our consent decrees.”
So, here we are, they're violating the FTC order already. Twitter has a compliance notice due to the FTC *TODAY* - 14 days after change of control. Godspeed to the poor bastards dealing with that. https://twitter.com/...
A short little story: Earlier this year, after @dotmudge's whistleblower allegations against Twitter became public, I filed a FOIA request to the FTC asking for all of Twitter's third-party compliance reports filed pursuant to its 2011 consent order.
NEW from me from inside Twitter: Employees are comparing Musk's Twitter reign to the Trump White House, staying on to keep it from “going off the rails.” Musk is creating new rules “by Tweet edict,” then employees have to figure out how to enforce them. https://www.nbcnews.com/..…
Mike's suggestion that Elon and the Elonoi should take the FTC more seriously is well-taken. Let me add a practitioner's note: in my experience federal judges are CRAZY deferential to the FTC. /1 https://www.techdirt.com/...
This is a really big deal. Twitter made huge strides towards a more rational internal security model and backsliding will put them in trouble with the FTC, SEC, 27 EU DPAs and a variety of other regulators. There is a serious risk of a breach with drastically reduced staff. https…
.@elonmusk and his backers have turned Twitter into a national security and global threat overnight. The insanity I'm seeing on this platform is so dangerous and @Twitter has no expert staff to stop it.
PSA for folks still at Twitter: “Anyone working in Twitter needs to know that “self-certifying” something that violates the FTC's consent decree may be tied to a prison sentence and huge fines.” https://twitter.com/...