The Twitter executive who made the decision to censor The New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s infamous Laptop From Hell and previously compared Trump advisors to Nazis has just announced his resignation from Twitter, just days after receiving public support from his new boss, Elon Musk.
35 year-old Yoel Roth was serving as the Chief Privacy Officer at Twitter until Wednesday and was responsible for shifting policies on trolling and hateful content on the platform.
Announcing his exit, Roth wrote on Twitter “Time honored tradition. ✌️#oneteam” and posted a picture of his work laptop and credentials and changed his account bio to “Ex-Chief Privacy Officer.”
Time honored tradition. ✌️#oneteam pic.twitter.com/ZS1FtMFivK
— Damien (@Damokieran) November 10, 2022
This resignation came as Twitter’s new President, Elon Musk had warned earlier last month that he will be firing half of the company’s 7,500 staffing numbers after he fired the platform’s CEO, Parag Agrawal, general counsel Vijaya Gadde, and other top management.
Early on after his takeover, Elon Musk tweeted out a piece of evidence alleging that Twitter and its law firm Wachtell “deliberately hid (this) evidence from court along with a screenshot of internal conversation involving Roth.”
Wachtell & Twitter board deliberately hid this evidence from the court. Stay tuned, more to come … pic.twitter.com/CifaNvtRtt
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 31, 2022
Conservative commentator and former OAN host, Liz Wheeler, responded to Musk’s tweet suggesting Roth’s past tweets comparing Trump administration members to Nazis to which Musk responded, expressing his support for Roth, “I want to be clear that I support Yoel. My sense is that he has high integrity, and we are all entitled to our political beliefs.”
We’ve all made some questionable tweets, me more than most, but I want to be clear that I support Yoel. My sense is that he has high integrity, and we are all entitled to our political beliefs.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 31, 2022
Roth has a history of tweeting out anti-Republican comments. Just before the 2016 Presidential elections, he had publicly announced his support for then Democratic candidate, Hilary Clinton.
I’ve never donated to a presidential campaign before, but I just gave $100 to Hillary for America. We can’t fuck around anymore.
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) September 27, 2016
In 2017, Roth made a comment about then-senate Majority Leader and Kentucky Senator, Mitch McConnell writing, “How does a personality-free bag of farts like Mitch McConnell actually win elections?”
How does a personality-free bag of farts like Mitch McConnell actually win elections?
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) July 28, 2017
In a now-deleted tweet, dated Nov. 8, 2016, the day of the 2016 presidential election, Roth mocked then-candidate Trump and his supporters in a tweet, writing, “I’m just saying, we fly over those states that voted for a racist tangerine for a reason.”
And compared President Trump’s senior advisor, Kellyanne Conway, to Nazi Germany Chief, Joseph Goebbels writing in a now-deleted 2017 tweet, ”Today on Meet The Press, we’re speaking with Joseph Goebbels about the first 100 days…’ – What I hear whenever Kellyanne is on a news show.”
Many pundits in the tech industry are expressing concerns over the future of Twitter and the departure of many top executives like Roth could have a significant impact on the platform. But despite their concerns, Musk has recently suggested that Twitter is hitting an “all-time high of active users” as his leadership continues to push free speech policies on a previously heavily censored platform.
Hit all-time high of active users today
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2022
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