--- title: "Elon Musk Reportedly Slashed the Team That Fights Child Sexual Abuse on Twitter" description: "Last week, Twitter CEO Elon Musk took to his recently purchased social media platform to declare that \"removing child exploitation\" from Twitter is the restructuring site's \"priority #1.\" Which, well, is a good goal to have, although Musk's actions reportedly aren't aligning with his words. Bloomberg reports that Twitter's formerly 20 person team responsible for […]" date: "2022-12-01" modified: "2022-12-01" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/musk-reportedly-slashed-team-fighting-child-sexual-abuse-twitter" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "twitter" --- # Elon Musk Reportedly Slashed the Team That Fights Child Sexual Abuse on Twitter ![Bloomberg reports that Elon Musk's chaotic workforce cullings at Twitter has decimated the team responsible for redressing child sexual exploitation.]() *\Image: Angela Weiss via Getty / Futurism\* Last week, [Twitter CEO Elon Musk]() took to his recently purchased social media platform to [declare]() that "removing child exploitation" from Twitter was the restructuring site's "priority #1." That's a great goal to have — but unfortunately, Musk's actions reportedly aren't aligning with his words. *Bloomberg* [reports that]() Twitter's formerly 20 person team responsible for preventing child sexual exploitation, which sources allegedly told *Bloomberg* was already understaffed before his tumultuous takeover, has been absolutely gutted under [Musk's chaotic workforce cullings](). While sources told the outlet that the new Twitter C-Suite only cut a few of the team's members to start, Musk's now-notorious "hardcore" email pushed several of the team's remaining employees out voluntarily. As a result, the cohort is allegedly down to fewer than 10 experts — who, unsurprisingly, are said to be struggling to keep up. *Bloomberg* reports that some pedophilia-related hashtags *have* been removed from the platform since Musk's takeover. But the publication's sources allege that those changes were already in the works before the acquisition took effect. And in any case, they say, the problem isn't as simple as just training machine learning models to identify exploitative content. While AI can be helpful in black-and-white situations — picking up on problem words or hashtags, or identifying abusive images — it's not exactly comprehensive. Expert human review is necessary for identifying more complex abusive behaviors like grooming, and it's important to have a diverse, multinational team versed in regional laws and language. In short, it feels utterly ridiculous to expect *less than 10 experts worldwide* to manage every instance of child abuse, in every language, happening on the entirety of Twitter. It's worth noting that Musk's initial promise to eliminate child exploitation from the app was in response to a tweet from internet personality Paul Ray Ramsey, who the Southern Poverty Law Center has [described]() as a white nationalist. Ramsey, who goes by "RAMZPAUL" on Twitter, took to the app on Nov 23 to [claim]() — without evidence — that Twitter "is reportedly nuking pedo accounts," thus, "eliminating much of Antifa Twitter." It's unclear whether that latter part is supposed to be a joke, although given that he's [reportedly]() questioned the validity of the holocaust and named women's suffrage a "cancer," it probably isn't. Regardless, Musk responded to his Antifa tweet very seriously. That in mind, while Twitter absolutely should care about devoting money, effort, and staffing to fight child abuse on the platform, the *Bloomberg* report supports the interpretation that Musk has been paying a lot more lip service to the issue — and to folks like "RAMZPAUL" pushing baseless theories attempting to connect the left to pedophilia — than he has any substantive action. If anything, by firing experts whose job it is to manage exploitation of minors, he's actively hindering the struggling team's efforts. He might [get points]() with his new friends at the [pizzagate party]() for dunking on wokeness and [cozying up to conspiracists](), but in practice, he's failing to support existing programs that are — or, well, were — countering the very real exploitation. **READ MORE:** *[Elon Musk’s Job Cuts Decimated Twitter Team Tackling Child Sexual Abuse]()* **More on Musk's Twitter:** *[Panicked Elon Musk Reportedly Begging Engineers Not to Leave]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()