DANA POINT, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 27: Linda Yaccarino, CEO, X/Twitter speaks onstage during Vox Media's 2023 Code Conference at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel on September 27, 2023 in Dana Point, California.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino disproved Elon Musk's assertion that the platform's election monitoring team had been dismantled, saying the staff is "growing" and will fight political disinformation.
In response to electoral integrity team personnel reductions, Musk tweeted that the X (formerly Twitter) election team had been dissolved.
In an interview at the 2023 Code Conference, Yaccarino stressed the gravity of the situation and said that X had a sizable and growing staff devoted to election integrity. Yaccarino acknowledged staff cutbacks but did not refute reports of team-wide layoffs.
X is Seriously Addressing Disinformation
The X executive stressed in a 2023 Code Conference interview that the social media company is "seriously" tackling the issue. "And contrary to the comments that were made, there is a robust and growing team at X that is wrapping their arms around election integrity," Linda Yaccarino expressed, as reported by Gizmodo.
According to reports, X announced layoffs on Friday, reducing the size of its team responsible for identifying electoral fraud and disinformation by half. Aaron Rodericks, the team's worldwide head based in Ireland, was one of those let go. Per Yaccarino, X was increasing its worldwide safety and election teams to combat manipulation, find fake accounts, and monitor the platform for emerging risks.
Linda Yaccarino and Elon Musk's public spat coincides with the latter's intention to suspend disinformation reporting on the popular social media platform before the 2024 US presidential election. According to a European Commission assessment, X has been accused of disseminating disinformation and online hatred, including sending false information from Russia about the Ukraine War to millions of users in the EU.
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Yaccarino Addressed Other Issues
According to Vox, Yaccarino noted that the number of users on X has increased to over 540 million, more than double the number Musk stated in November. She emphasized the rising trends in usage data and user engagement. In addition, she pointed out that both big and small advertisers are returning to the site, refuting Musk's earlier assertions that advertising income was dropping. Yaccarino predicted that the social media firm would turn a profit in the first quarter of 2024.
The CEO of X also addressed rumors regarding her position within the business, particularly in light of Elon Musk's engagement in X's engineering section.
In an interview with CNBC's Julia Boorstin at Vox's Code Conference, Yaccarino denied being a "CEO in name only." She questioned the implicit description and the attempt to label her as just a Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Boorstin referenced statements made by both Musk and Yaccarino on the division of duties at X, where Musk would be in charge of the technical side while Yaccarino would concentrate on the commercial and advertising parts.
Yaccarino justified her stance by stressing that Musk is in charge of technological innovation and oversees a "team of exceptionally talented engineers," as per Insider. Despite Meta's structure, she appreciated Elon Musk's product oversight and supportiveness.
Elon Musk's reputation as a difficult colleague was indicated in a recent biography written by Walter Isaacson, who spent more than two years following the Tech Mogul. Isaacson stated that Musk occasionally displayed a demanding and callous attitude that has been referred to as "demon mode."
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