X (previously Twitter) is re-investing in its belief, security and safety groups pre-election, after CEO Elon Musk controversially dissolved the platform’s oversight council almost two years in the past.
The corporate has opened up two dozen new security and cybersecurity positions at websites throughout the US, TechCrunch reported, a lean addition supposed to bulk up its skeleton workers. Positions unfold throughout current groups, together with roles for a director of strategic response, authorities affairs managers, safety engineers, and a risk intelligence specialist. Earlier this 12 months, X introduced it needed to construct again out its content material moderation workforce, starting with 100-employee workers for a “Trust and Safety center of excellence” primarily based in Austin, TX.
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However these current hiring bulletins, and their modest workers numbers, come after years of Musk quietly chipping away at X’s security investments. A report by Australia’s on-line security commissioner printed in January discovered that the CEO fired round 80 p.c of its belief and security engineers not lengthy after the location’s acquisition by Musk within the fall of 2022. On the time of the oversight physique’s evaluation, the corporate had simply 55 engineers on workers for world belief and security operations, whereas the workforce at giant had been whittled down by almost half.
Continued workers cuts, in addition to the CEO’s personal statements on the platform’s position in selling “free speech” and sparse content material moderation, have led many to name into query Musk’s funding in platform security — or lack thereof. The brand new hiring additionally comes at a precarious time for the corporate as X’s income prospects look dim for 2025, in keeping with a brand new report in The Guardian.