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X (formerly Twitter) CEO Linda Yaccarino has dropped out of the WSJ Tech Live conference that’s going to be held next week. The conflict between Israel and Hamas is probably the reason behind Yaccarino’s absence.
The WSJ Tech Live conference is a tech event that hosts over 2,000 C-Suites, founders, VCs, investors, and tech leaders. In 2023, the event will be held from 16-18 October in Laguna Beach, California. While X CEO Linda Yaccarino was among the invitees, she’s not attending the event due to the “global crisis unfolding.” According to X’s statement, Yaccarino and her team prefer to stay focused on the platform’s safety now.
As you may know, there’s a massive conflict ongoing between Israel and Hamas that has left thousands of people dead and injured on both sides. X is flooded with disturbing images and videos of casualties. Besides that, the platform is bombarded with tons of anti-Semitic tweets from Hamas fans.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino will not attend the WSJ Tech Live conference next week
In a strange move, X owner Elon Musk also invited users to follow a page that had previously posted anti-Semitic tweets. Musk later removed his tweet. All these led to Linda Yaccarino’s decision to cancel her WSJ Tech Live conference attendance.
Yaccarino’s chaotic appearance at The Verge Code Conference has already put her in a critical position. She refused to give compelling answers to most questions, especially about the content moderation policies and the claims made by former X trust and safety head Yoel Roth.
Following Elon Musk’s takeover, X has laid off most members of its content moderation team. Some say the decision led to an increase in abusive posts and negatively impacted the platform’s safety.
While Musk denies these claims, many advertisers still hesitate to return to the platform. Yaccarino said at the Code Conference that 90% of advertisers have returned to the platform. However, Bloomberg reports that they’re spending less on ads.
According to Reuters, citing an anonymous source, Yaccarino has also said that X’s revenue grew “in the high-single digit percentage during the third quarter compared to the second quarter.”