Twitter CEO Elon Musk slammed former CEO Jack Dorsey on the platform late this week over the reported lack of action that the company took against removing child porn from the site.
Musk’s remarks came in response to several members of Twitter’s “Trust and Safety Council” resigning from the company because they claimed that Musk was making the platform less safe.
The tweet, posted by Anne Collier, Founder and Executive Director of The Net Safety Collaborative, generated a response from political commentator Mike Cernovich, who tweeted at her, “You all belong in jail.”
Cernovich included in his tweet a link to a New York Post article from last January that documented allegations from a teenage sex trafficking victim who claimed that the company did not remove pornographic images of the 13-year-old because the company “didn’t find a violation.”
“It is a crime that they refused to take action on child exploitation for years!” Musk responded to Cernovich’s tweet.
Dorsey responded, “this is false.”
“No, it is not,” Musk responded to Dorsey. “When Ella Irwin, who now runs Trust & Safety, joined Twitter earlier this year, almost no one was working on child safety. She raised this with Ned & Parag, but they rejected her staffing request. I made it top priority immediately.”
No, it is not.
When Ella Irwin, who now runs Trust & Safety, joined Twitter earlier this year, almost no one was working on child safety.
She raised this with Ned & Parag, but they rejected her staffing request.
I made it top priority immediately.@ellagirwin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
“At the same time, [Twitter CFO Ned Segal] was spending millions of dollars on Warriors seats. Super messed up priorities,” Musk continued.
At the same time, Ned was spending millions of dollars on Warriors seats. Super messed up priorities.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
Dorsey then appeared to admit that he had no idea what was going on at the company that he had been CEO of until November 2021 and on the executive board until May 2022.
Musk’s new head of Trust & Safety, Ella Irwin, responded to Dorsey, “I wish this was false but my experience this year supports [what Musk said].” She then claimed that she had tried to get funding to replace employees who had left earlier this year “and was told no.”
Correct
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
Mike Solana, an ally of Musk, responded to some of the new “Twitter Files” by remarking that the “trust and safety” team had effective control over the entire company.
In another apparent shot at Dorsey, Musk responded, “Absolutely! The real CEO was the head of ‘Trust & Safety.'”
Absolutely! The real CEO was the head of “Trust & Safety”.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022