Twitter, the former N.1 of security speaks: “Elon Musk’s hands are tied, Google and Apple decide”
After his resignation as head of security for Twitter, Yoel Roth confessed in a long and heartfelt interview with the New York Times.
Following his resignation as Twitter’s chief security officer, Yoel Roth confessed in a long and heartfelt interview with the New York Times . During the conversation with the prestigious American newspaper, Roth spoke of the real reasons that led him to resign and of the dependency relationship between the tech platforms and the oligopoly of Google and Apple. “All decisions are made by these two companies.”
It is for this reason that I have chosen to leave the company. Twitter policies are decided by unilateral edicts ( the rules of the Play Store and the App Store ed ) that have little to do with the safety and trust of users.
Social networks such as Twitter, Roth continues, would be engaged in a constant tug of war against Google and Apple , who can decide with the snap of their fingers which applications to remove from their marketplaces. And when the pitfalls do not come from the duopoly of the mobile market, local governments and advertisers take care of imposing further pressure.
Not adhering perfectly to the guidelines of Apple and Google would be catastrophic, the risk is that Twitter will be expelled from their app stores, making it more difficult for billions of potential users to access the social network. This gives Google and Apple enormous negotiating power, they have a say in the decisions that Twitter will have to make continues the former manager of Twitter.
Elon Musk will have his hands tied: Google and Apple decide
The message is clear: Elon Musk’s dream of restoring freedom of speech without exception is destined to collide violently against the wall of reality. To be honest, the billionaire seems to be already more than aware of it, which is why he would have already opted for some compromises: despite user requests, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will never be able to return to Twitter.
Jones, the patron of conspiracy hoax empire InfoWars , was recently ordered to pay more than $1 billion to the families of victims of the Sandy Hook shootings. “My firstborn died in my arms, I have no mercy for those who don’t mind using their children’s lives to get fame or money,” explained the billionaire.
And then the clarification on freedom of speech: “Freedom of speach does not mean Freedom of reach”, he specified a few days ago. Put simply: posts with xenophobic, violent or objectionable content will not be removed, but will be made almost invisible. A sort of shadow ban that will prevent the most extreme comments from going viral and being seen by thousands of users. «It will be possible to read them only if you search for them manually and specifically». But will it really be enough to reassure fleeing advertisers and avoid the collapse of social network revenues? Only ten days ago Musk had warned his employees: ” there is a risk of bankruptcy “. And even more so: why play with fire?
