X planning to establish content moderation office in Austin: Report
X is planning to build a new "Trust and Safety Center of Excellence" in Austin, Texas, United States, with a focus on child sexual exploitation (CSE) moderation, reported Bloomberg. The Elon Musk-owned company aims to employ 100 full-time workers for this new location, according to Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X. The group will be the first official trust and safety group since Musk disbanded it after acquiring the platform, formerly known as Twitter, in October 2022.
Why does this story matter?
Musk has faced scrutiny for reducing X's focus on trust and safety measures since assuming leadership. Additionally, he has revoked certain policies, including those addressing misinformation, aiming to prioritize "free speech" on the platform. Interestingly, the decision to create a content moderation hub in Austin comes just before CEO Linda Yaccarino's Senate Judiciary Committee testimony on Wednesday (January 31), which will discuss X's handling of CSE moderation.
Team to primarily focus on moderating CSE content
The newly formed team will primarily tackle CSE content but will also assist in enforcing additional regulations, which encompass restrictions on hate speech and violent posts. A content moderation job posting for X in Austin indicated that moderators will investigate issues like "spam and fraud" and offer customer support. An updated X blog post about its CSE moderation approach mentioned the new office but did not reveal the team's specific duties or the office's launch date.
Yaccarino's testimony to discuss online child safety
Yaccarino's upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee hearing will address X's management of CSE moderation. She will be accompanied by top executives from Meta Platforms Inc., Snap Inc., TikTok, and Discord. Last week, Yaccarino spent time in Washington, engaging with senators from across the political spectrum ahead of the upcoming hearing. Discussions centered on X's initiatives regarding content moderation and other contentious issues, yet she also highlighted X's divergence from Twitter and its past approaches and management, per Benarroch.
