Twitter's head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, confirmed her resignation from the company late Friday after CEO Elon Musk publicly complained about the platform's handling of tweets about transgender topics.
Irwin's departure served as another flashpoint in the company's string of exits since Musk took over last year. She did not give any reason for her leaving Twitter, but it came after Musk criticized the platform's regulation of tweets about a conservative documentary questioning medical transgender procedures for children and teenagers.
Resignation Linked Over Tweet Promoting "What Is A Woman?"
Irwin's departure was attributed to Musk's response to complaints made by The Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing, who noticed tweets and retweets promoting its documentary "What Is A Woman?" was being suppressed by Twitter. Boreing added the platform was flagging the tweets and retweets as hate speech, keeping the movie off of lists of trending topics.
Boreing also said Twitter canceled its deal to premiere the documentary for free "because of two instances of 'misgendering,'" which the platform prohibits.
"This was a mistake by many people at Twitter," Musk replied. "It is definitely allowed."
The CEO added that not using someone's preferred pronouns might be rude "at most" but "certainly breaks no laws."
"What Is A Woman?" is The Daily Wire's documentary criticizing gender issues. Matt Walsh, the presenter and creator of the documentary, traveled across the US and Africa to ask the question in its title: "What is a woman?" The video was equally praised and criticized for dealing with the transgender issue.
Just kidding folks. 😂 There’s no thread. In all seriousness, I did resign but this has been a once in a lifetime experience and I’m so thankful to have worked with this amazing team of passionate, creative and hardworking people. Will be cheering you all and Twitter as you go!
— Ella Irwin (@ellagirwin) June 3, 2023
Irwin: Working with Twitter "A Once In A Lifetime Experience"
In a tweet, Irwin said she left Twitter a day before her announcement, saying she was grateful for the opportunity to work with the company.
"I did resign but this has been a once in a lifetime experience and I'm so thankful to have worked with this amazing team of passionate, creative, and hardworking people," she said.
However, Irwin did not comment on the management of tweets promoting "What Is A Woman?" and the criticism Twitter received.
Twitter has struggled to win back advertisers turned off by Musk's drastic changes and mass layoffs and resignations since his acquisition of the company in October 2022. Musk himself would step down as CEO and pass leadership to Linda Yaccarino, who had media and advertising industry experience for firms such as NBCUniversal.
