Twitter is Left by Top Executives and Advertisers Awaiting Elon Musk's Moderation Policy

Dalana Brand's Chief People and Diversity Officer, opted out of Twitter. (photo: twitter @DalanaBrand)

JAKARTA - The massive exodus of top management on Twitter, after the entry of a new owner, Elon Musk, is still ongoing. Top officials of the US social media platform, including its head of advertising and marketing, have left the company in recent days.

The departure comes after billionaire Elon Musk took over the company for $44 billion last week, which was followed by the firings of CEO Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and head of legal and policy affairs Vijaya Gadde.

Sarah Personette, who is chief customer officer and boss of advertising, tweeted on Tuesday, November 1 that she resigned last week. This adds to advertisers' uncertainty about how the social media company will turn out under Musk.

Chief People and Diversity Officer Dalana Brand also announced last Tuesday in a LinkedIn post that she had stepped down as well last week. General manager for core technology Nick Caldwell also confirmed his departure on Twitter. He even changed his profile bio to "former Twitter executive" on Monday night, October 31.

After 4 amazing years, I resigned from Twitter on Friday. It has truly been one of the best experiences of my career and every moment embodied #LoveWhereYouWork.

— Dalana Brand (@DalanaBrand) November 1, 2022

Chief marketing officer Leslie Berland, Twitter head of product Jay Sullivan, and its vice president of global sales, Jean-Philippe Maheu, have also left the company. It is not clear whether they quit or were asked to leave over the decision. Berland tweeted a blue heart but gave no details.

Caldwell declined to comment further. The other five did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Several employees who spoke to Reuters also said they continued to receive little communication about the company's future. An all staff meeting scheduled for Wednesday November 2 was cancelled, following the cancellation of a check-in call by Twitter last week.

Musk's team met with advertisers this week in New York, as the company's increasingly agitated customers raised alarms about the potential for harmful content to appear next to their ads.

“Hate content has skyrocketed since Musk closed his deal with Twitter. Use of the “N” word has increased nearly 500% on Twitter,” said the Network Contagion Research Institute, which identifies “cyber-social threats.”

A coalition of more than 40 advocacy organizations including the NAACP and the Free Press sent an open letter to Twitter's top 20 advertisers on Tuesday, asking them to withdraw their ads if Musk dares to moderate content on the platform.

Mediabrands, a unit of advertising parent company IPG, has advised its clients to pause advertising on Twitter for the next week until the company provides more details on its plans to protect trust and security on the platform. IPG works with big advertisers like Coca-Cola.

Meanwhile Musk has been trying to convince advertisers. "Twitter's commitment to brand safety has not changed," he tweeted Monday.

He previously said he would reverse the Twitter ban on former President Donald Trump, issued over concerns he could spark further violence after last year's US Capitol riots.