X (formerly Twitter) to Open Austin Center with 100 Moderators, Targeting Child Exploitation Content

Social media company “X” (formerly Twitter) is working on recruiting 100 content moderators for a new office in Austin, Texas, dedicated to combating child exploitation content. The company aims to achieve this goal by the end of the year, as reported by Reuters.

The company, owned by Elon Musk, announced the new “Center of Excellence for Trust and Safety” ahead of a Senate hearing on January 31. The focus of its operations revolves around combating online child sexual exploitation.

The CEO of X, Linda Yaccarino, is scheduled to testify alongside the CEOs of Meta, Snap, TikTok, and Discord.

X’s Chief Business Officer, Joe Piarulli, mentioned regarding the Austin office, “Right now, we are building the team.” He added that the goal of filling the positions by the end of the year depends on finding the right talent, according to Reuters.

Since Musk acquired the company, formerly known as Twitter, in 2022, the billionaire has faced criticism for his controversial posts and efforts to reform the platform’s content moderation policies.

In a Friday post, X stated that it suspended 12.4 million accounts last year for violating its rules against child sexual exploitation, which increased from 2.3 million accounts suspended in 2022. The platform also mentioned that the new Austin center will help the company combat other forms of harmful content.