Musk’s X To Hire 100 Online Moderators In Austin By End Of Year

January 28, 2024-Social media company X, owned by Elon Musk, has revealed plans to hire 100 content moderators for a new office in Austin, Texas. This center, termed the “Trust and Safety Center of Excellence,” is dedicated to combating child abuse content. X aims to fill these positions by the end of the year, with the ongoing hiring process being contingent on finding suitable talent.

Joe Benarroch, X’s Head of Business Operations, confirmed the initiative, emphasizing the urgency of building the team in response to the growing concern around online child sexual exploitation. The announcement comes ahead of a U.S. Senate hearing scheduled for January 31, where X Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino is set to testify along with the CEOs of other prominent platforms like Meta Platforms, Snap, TikTok, and Discord.

Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company in 2022, X has faced scrutiny for controversial posts and Musk’s efforts to reform the platform’s content moderation policies. The move to establish a dedicated center focusing on trust and safety aligns with industry-wide efforts to address concerns related to harmful content on social media platforms.

In a recent blog post, X reported that it suspended 12.4 million accounts in the previous year for violating rules against child sexual exploitation, marking a substantial increase from 2.3 million account suspensions in 2022. The new Trust and Safety center in Austin will not only target child abuse content but will also contribute to combating various forms of harmful content on the platform.

This initiative underscores the growing importance of content moderation and user safety in the digital landscape, prompting social media companies to invest in resources and strategies to enhance their platforms’ safety measures. The success of such endeavors relies on the collaborative efforts of industry stakeholders, regulators, and the platforms themselves.