X hiring content moderators for a new 'Trust and Safety' center in Austin

The news comes days before Linda Yaccarino's senate hearing.
By Cecily Mauran  on 
Elon Musk at a speaking event holding a microphone
Musk is bringing back a little bit of content moderation. Credit: Getty Images

X, formerly known at Twitter, is building its content moderation team back up, but not completely.

According to Bloomberg, the company is hiring 100 employees for a "Trust and Safety center of excellence" in Austin, TX. After Elon Musk took over the platform in 2022, he laid off around 80 percent of the company and gutted the content moderation team. The new team will focus on enforcing the platform's rules around violence and hate speech, and specifically combatting CSE (Child Sexual Exploitation).

The timing of this report comes days before X CEO Linda Yaccarino is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing on protecting children online. On Friday, Jan. 26, X published a blog post outlining its work to "tackle Child Sexual Exploitation" on the platform.

As a self-professed "free-speech absolutist," Musk bought the platform to create a digital town square by rolling back policies and efforts which he believed hindered free speech. However, this soon turned X into an even more toxic place, which caused big ticket advertisers to leave the platform and X's valuation to plummet.

Is the development of a content moderation headquarters the sign of positive change for the platform? According to 2020 NYU Stern report, Twitter used to have around 1,500 content moderators, so a team of 100 is peanuts compared to what it used to be. No doubt, Yaccarino will have more to say about it at the hearing on Jan. 31.

Mashable Image
Cecily Mauran

Cecily is a tech reporter at Mashable who covers AI, Apple, and emerging tech trends. Before getting her master's degree at Columbia Journalism School, she spent several years working with startups and social impact businesses for Unreasonable Group and B Lab. Before that, she co-founded a startup consulting business for emerging entrepreneurial hubs in South America, Europe, and Asia. You can find her on Twitter at @cecily_mauran.


Recommended For You
X appears to be juicing MrBeast's views as Elon Musk tries to woo the YouTuber to the platform


Elon Musk's Neuralink has implanted a brain chip in a human for the first time

The best free dating apps for budget-conscious singles
By Leah Stodart, Miller Kern, Bethany Allard, Tabitha Britt, and Stacia Datskovska

MrBeast earns more than $250,000 on video uploaded to Elon Musk's X

Trending on Mashable
NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for February 21

Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for February 21

NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for February 20


How to try Sora, OpenAI's AI video generator
The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!