X Corp—X's child safety efforts deteriorated after Musk acquisition despite stated priority
Despite Musk declaring child safety his 'top priority' after acquiring Twitter, independent investigations found the situation worsened. X disbanded its Trust and Safety Council (which included 12 groups advising on child exploitation), and nonprofit Thorn terminated its contract with X after the company stopped paying invoices. A February 2023 NYT investigation found CSAM was easy to find and X was slower to action reports. NBC News found in 2025 that automated accounts were flooding hashtags with child exploitation content using the same methods identified in 2023, indicating persistent failure to address the problem.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child Safety | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Digital Safety for Vulnerable Users | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.483 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.64)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (2 signals)
Nonprofit Thorn terminated child safety contract with X after company stopped paying invoices
Thorn, a California-based nonprofit that provides technology to detect child sexual abuse content, terminated its contract with X after the company stopped paying invoices. NBC News reported in June 2025 that automated accounts continued to flood hashtags with child exploitation content, using the same methods identified in 2023.
NYT investigation found CSAM easy to find on X with slower response times than pre-acquisition Twitter
A February 2023 New York Times investigation found child sexual abuse material was easy to find on X, and that the platform was slower to action reports than Twitter had been prior to the acquisition. The investigation also found X was failing to adequately report CSAM instances to relevant agencies.