Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of content policy, steps down from her position

Ella Irwin, the Twitter executive responsible for content moderation and policy, has resigned from her position, leaving new owner Elon Musk without one of his most loyal deputies. As the head of Trust and Safety, Irwin played a crucial role in overseeing Twitter’s policies regarding harassment, hate speech, violent content, and account suspensions. Her departure comes at a time when Twitter’s content rules have been relaxed under Musk’s leadership.

Irwin’s resignation has been confirmed by both her and Twitter. According to current and former employees, Irwin was highly trusted by Musk and was known for implementing and defending his content-related decisions, even as the team faced challenges due to layoffs and terminations. While this earned her recognition within Twitter, it also resulted in backlash from advertisers and users who felt the platform had become more accommodating to offensive content.

Since Musk assumed ownership, Twitter has witnessed a significant decline in advertising revenue, with a reported 50% decrease since October. Advertisers became concerned about the types of content their ads would be associated with on the platform. Irwin’s departure follows the resignation of Yoel Roth, the previous head of Trust and Safety, who left in November and subsequently became a vocal critic of the company.

The specific reasons behind Irwin’s resignation remain unclear. She joined Twitter in June of the previous year, just a few months before Musk’s acquisition of the company for $44 billion was finalized.