The company X of Elon Musk (Elon Musk) fired over 1,200 workers on an international scale responsible for combating content marked as offensive and the observance of its policy, according to figures released today by the internet watchdog in Australia.

The eSafety body speaks of “deep cuts” and observes that restoring thousands of accounts that had been suspended created “the worst” possible situation in terms of dissemination of harmful content.

The last months, the supervisory body focused on X, emphasizing how Mr Musk’s takeover of the company coincided with the height of “toxicity and hate» on this social networking site, previously known as Twitter.

Relying on Australian law for internet safety, the eSafety committee secured a detailed list of X’s software engineers, content reviewers, and other security staff members.

Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant —herself a former Twitter employee— he emphasized that this is the first time that these numbers have been made public.

Demonstrate that 1,213 of its staff involved in content review, including subcontractors, left X after it was bought by Elon Musk, of which 80% were software engineers.

THE dismissal of 80% of the specialists engineers it’s a bit “as if Volvo, famous for its safety rules, fired all its designers and engineers”.

According to Mrs. Inman Grant, this is “Mrs worst possible situation. You lower your defenses a lot and respawn defendants on the platform”.

Australia is at the forefront of the global effort to control social networking sites, obliging companies in the sector to explain how they deal with issues such as hate speech, or sexual assaults against minors.

In October, eSafety imposed on X fine A$610,500 (US$410,000), noting that the platform did not make it clear that it was cracking down on content such as sexual assaults against minors.

But X defied the deadline to pay the fine, before going to court to try to get it overturned.

The company did not immediately respond when asked by AFP for comment. Sent automated reply stating how all its representatives “are busy” and it asks to try again “later”.