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As Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter entered its third week, and following mass layoffs, the billionaire laid bare a delicate financial future for the social media platform, amid an exodus of top privacy and security executives.
Yoel Roth, the head of safety and integrity who had been deputized to publicly address concerns advertisers and users had about the platform, is reportedly the latest to leave the company.
The departures began on the same day Elon Musk addressed employees for the first time, saying that “bankruptcy isn’t out of the question”, according to multiple reports.
The day began with the resignation of three top security officials – chief information security officer Lea Kissner, chief privacy officer Damien Kieran and chief compliance officer Marianne Fogarty – prompting warnings from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). (Twitter reached a settlement over privacy issues with the FTC in May.) Following those departures, Roth and Twitter’s head of client solutions, Robin Wheeler, also left the company.
I’ve made the hard decision to leave Twitter. I’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing people and I’m so proud of the privacy, security, and IT teams and the work we’ve done.
I’m looking forward to figuring out what’s next, starting with my reviews for @USENIXSecurity 😁
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— Lea Kissner (@LeaKissner) November 10, 2022
The departures compound the issues plaguing the social media platform since Musk purchased it. Musk’s takeover and the resultant confusing back-and-forth on product launches and content moderation policies have led many brands including General Mills to pause ad buys on Twitter – a development the billionaire attempted to rectify in a public town hall he hosted with brands on Wednesday.
The company’s subscription product Twitter Blue, which launched on Wednesday and allows users to purchase a verified blue check mark for $8, has already resulted in various accounts being verified despite impersonating brands or notable figures. Some civil rights groups worry that a lack of clarity on content moderation policies and the unrestrained ability to purchase a blue check mark could lead – if they haven’t already – to a scourge of hate speech and spread of misinformation. They have called on more brands to pause their advertisements on the platform.
“I have never seen a billionaire begging for your $8 this much,” said Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP. “Clearly, our efforts – calling on companies to pause all advertising on Twitter – are working. Corporations need to be held accountable, and Twitter is no exception. Hate speech and disinformation have no place anywhere.”
Under the company’s settlement with the FTC, Twitter is required to perform privacy reviews before it makes any changes to its products. But in a letter posted to Slack by an attorney on the company’s privacy team and reported by the Verge, the author says that they heard the company’s head of legal, Alex Spiro, “say that Elon is willing to take on a huge amount of risk in relation to this company and its users, because ‘Elon puts rockets into space, he’s not afraid of the FTC.’” The company’s legal team is now asking engineers to “self-certify” that their features comply with FTC rules and privacy standards, according to the Verge.
In the letter, the lawyer said people should make use of the available whistleblower protections “if you feel uncomfortable about anything you’re being asked to do”.
Messages seeking comment were left with Twitter, but it is unlikely someone will respond as the communications department has been laid off.
