X/Twitter executives had a very bad day defending Musk's platform

Since Elon Musk acquired Twitter, the company has rarely made its executives available for media appearances or comment. However, on Thursday, the platform now known as X saw two of its executives make rare public appearances, including Musk’s handpicked CEO Linda Yaccarino.It didn’t go very well.It all started early Thursday morning in Australia, as X’s head of global government affairs Nick Pickles defended the reinstatement of a right-wing influencer who posted child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on the platform.In late July, a prominent right-wing influencer and conspiracy theorist on the platform, Dom Lucre, was suddenly suspended on the platform. His followers quickly rallied together, calling for his reinstatement and for a reason why he was suspended. Musk replied to one user questioning Lucre’s suspension with an answer to why the platform took action. According to Musk, Lucre was suspended for  “posting child exploitation pictures associated with the criminal conviction of an Australian man in the Philippines.” Musk followed up by saying that they’d remove the post but would reinstate Lucre’s account. Lucre was back on Twitter the very same day.During Thursday’s Australian parliamentary hearing, Pickles said that the company has a “zero tolerance” approach to CSAM, before quickly stating that enforcement, or lack thereof, is different on the account that posted the child exploitation material. Pickles explained that Lucre posted the CSAM to express “outrage,” not to support such content.Australian lawmakers were not convinced by the explanation. Tweet may have been deleted “I’m sorry but if I’m outraged by some content,…X/Twitter executives had a very bad day defending Musk's platform