X to open new Texas office to combat child porn
- The company aims to recruit content moderators focused on weeding out child sexual exploitation content and other violations of the platform’s rules
- X says it is determined to make the platform inhospitable for actors who seek to exploit minors
Social media platform X, formerly Twitter, will open a moderation office in Texas with an emphasis on fighting content linked to child sexual abuse, the company has said.
The initial goal of the “Trust and Safety centre of excellence” in Austin will be to recruit 100 content moderators, focusing on weeding out child sexual exploitation (CSE) content and other violations of the platform’s rules, Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X, said on Saturday.
“X DOES NOT have a line of business focused on children, but it’s important that we make these investments to keep stopping offenders from using our platform for ANY distribution or engagement with CSE content,” Benarroch said in an email.
The company bought by Elon Musk at the end of 2022 said in a blog post on Friday it was “determined to make X inhospitable for actors who seek to exploit minors”.
“X has strengthened its policies and enforcement to tackle CSE. We are now taking action on users that distribute this content and also taking immediate action on the networks of users who engage with this horrible content.”
Benarroch noted that children under 13 cannot open accounts on X, while young users aged 13 to 17 automatically default to a private setting, and cannot be targeted by advertisers.
X’s announcement comes ahead of a hearing in the US Senate on Wednesday, titled “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis”.