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

X, previously known as Twitter, is expanding its content moderation team in Austin.

According to Bloomberg, the company is recruiting 100 staff members for a “Trust and Safety center of excellence” in Austin, TX. Following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform in 2022, a substantial portion of the company’s workforce, including the content moderation team, was let go. The new team will concentrate on upholding the platform’s regulations regarding violence, hate speech, and specifically combating CSE (Child Sexual Exploitation).

The announcement of this initiative coincides with X CEO Linda Yaccarino’s upcoming appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing on child protection online. On Friday, Jan. 26, X released a blog post detailing its efforts to combat “Child Sexual Exploitation” on the platform.

As a professed advocate for free speech, Musk’s goal in acquiring the platform was to establish a digital public forum by rolling back restrictions and initiatives that he believed impeded free speech. However, this move ultimately transformed X into a more toxic environment, resulting in major advertisers departing and a decline in X’s value.

Does the establishment of a content moderation hub signal positive changes for the platform? According to a 2020 NYU Stern report, Twitter once employed around 1,500 content moderators, so a team of 100 is significantly smaller than its previous setup. Undoubtedly, Yaccarino will address this further during the hearing on Jan. 31.

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.