X Axes Disinformation Team Just 1 Month After Elon Musk Pledged To Expand It

Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, slashed half of its global team responsible for stopping election fraud.

The move comes about a month after the social media platform brought back political advertising.

What Happened: According to The Information, citing unnamed sources, X cut half of its staff members in charge of limiting disinformation around elections. The individual in charge of the entire division was among those on the chopping block.

The company reportedly laid off its entire Dublin-based global election integrity team. Employees were reportedly told they were not necessary at this time.

It's believed that there are only about six elections integrity team members remaining at X.

Why It Matters: The news comes less than a month after X reinstated political ads on the platform and said it was going to expand its safety and elections team ahead of the 2024 presidential election. 

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The team was tasked with stopping manipulation, exposing fake accounts and monitoring threats. 

"Our work is ongoing. These increased investments in people, policy and product will further ensure our communities have access to open, accurate and safe political discourse on X," the company said in a blog post at the end of last month.

Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion last October and rebranded the company to X. Earlier this year, the Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO said he had cut about 80% of the company's staff. That number appears to be growing. 

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Photo: Web Summit from Flickr.