Elon Musk now officially owns Twitter, and the move caused a big splash in the industry. The tech billionaire started his reign as head of the popular network by laying off staff “en masse” and then trying to rehire some of the valuable assets lost in the process. One such asset seems to be Yoel Roth, the company’s former head of trust and safety, who gave his first interview since his departure shortly after Musk took over.
When asked whether he still felt Twitter was safer after Musk’s takeover at a Knight Foundation event, Roth said, “I don’t.”The interview comes at a very specific moment. Musk relaunched the Twitter Blue subscription service on November 29th. Roth believes that Musk is breaking procedures and his own promises and, in the end, wants to run Twitter by himself.
“He would say things that were consistent with establishing a moderation council, that were consistent with not making capricious, unilateral decisions, and I was optimistic based on that,” Roth said. “My optimism ultimately faded.”
But it’s not all horrible. Despite the statements above, Roth does not think Twitter will have a “spectacular moment of failure,” as several former workers have expressed concern after the company’s enormous layoffs and resignations.