Elon Musk has taken the Twitter world by storm over the past few weeks with his release of the “Twitter Files,” internal documents and communications that show top-level execs at the company discussing the suspension of certain information on the platform.
One of the names mentioned was Yoel Roth, the former head of trust and safety at Twitter who resigned in November, just two weeks after Musk officially took over the company.
“Even as [Musk] criticizes the capriciousness of platform policies, he perpetuates the same lack of legitimacy through his impulsive changes and tweet-length pronouncements about Twitter’s rules,” Roth penned in an essay upon his departure. “In appointing himself ‘chief twit,’ Mr. Musk has made clear that at the end of the day, he’ll be the one calling the shots.”
Now, Roth is claiming that Musk’s mentions of his involvement in information suppression and other matters have caused him to fear for his life, with CNN reporting that Roth has fled his home after receiving a multitude of threats.
Roth’s involvement in the “Twitter Files” includes conversations surrounding whether or not to suspend Donald Trump in early 2021, something he was seen to be involved in thanks to screenshots posted by journalist Bari Weiss (through the help of Musk).
“Multiple [Twitter employees] have quoted the Banality of Evil suggesting that people implementing our policies are like Nazis following orders,” Yoel Roth wrote via Slack, shown through a screenshot in reference to the decision behind wanting to have Trump de-platformed from Twitter.
30. “Multiple tweeps [Twitter employees] have quoted the Banality of Evil suggesting that people implementing our policies are like Nazis following orders,” relays Yoel Roth to a colleague. pic.twitter.com/cm5yzuSYSV
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 12, 2022
But things grew worse for Roth over the weekend when Musk surfaced the former employee’s Ph.D. thesis and insinuated that he supported “children being able to access adult Internet services” after he pulled a quote from Roth’s paper that discussed safety options for using hook up app Grindr — instead of outright banning those under the age of 18.
Elon Musk smears Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, by suggesting that Roth, whose PhD work at Penn focused on Grindr, supports pedophilia. pic.twitter.com/IIClg8EuGv
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) December 10, 2022
A Twitter user also found an old Tweet from Roth in 2020 that read, “Can high school students ever meaningfully consent to sex with their teachers?” Before linking out to an article about a Supreme Court ruling on what age students can have sexual relations with their teachers, to which Musk publicly replied, “This explains a lot.”
This explains a lot
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2022
According to CNN, violent threats against Roth reached a high after the Tweets about high-school-aged students surfaced this weekend.
At one point, Musk and Roth had an amicable relationship, with Musk even openly supporting Roth and his former resurfaced Tweets where he showed disdain for then-President Trump.
“I want to be clear that I support Yoel,” Musk said back in October. “My sense is that he has high integrity, and we are all entitled to our political beliefs.”
