Twitter's Trust & Safety Council Dissolved; Microsoft Buys into London Stock Exchange Group

by Hannah Dillon on 13th Dec 2022 in News

In today's ExchangeWire news digest: Twitter disbands its Trust and Safety Council after key members step down; Microsoft buys a 4% stake in London Stock Exchange Group; and Alibaba trials a free trade hub in Thailand.

Twitter dissolves safety council following key resignations

A company email on Monday (12th December) has revealed that Twitter has disbanded its Trust and Safety Council. The council was established in 2016 to advise Twitter on how best to tackle a range of safety issues for users, including harassment and suicide prevention.

The disbandment of the council comes just days after prominent members resigned, all citing the behaviour of new CEO Elon Musk. In a statement posted to Twitter, the members said, “A Twitter ruled by diktat is not a place for us.”

Microsoft buys stake in London Stock Exchange

Microsoft will acquire a 4% stake in London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LSEG PLC), parent company of the London Stock Exchange. The deal, which was revealed on Monday (12th December), mandates that LSEG PLC must spend USD$2.8bn (~£2.28bn) on Microsoft products over the next decade, particularly its Azure cloud service.

Chief executive of LSEG PLC, David Schwimmer, said that the two organisations “will be investing together. We will be designing products together. We will be going to markets together.”

Alibaba trials Ma-backed free trade hub in Thailand

Alibaba Group Holding is trialling a free-trade-zone in Thailand, four years after the project officially launched. The project was approved by then-Alibaba chairman Jack Ma, and falls under the electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), an international initiative to encourage global trade.

The free-trade-zone consists of a 430,000 square-feet region in eastern Thailand, wherein bonded warehouses can stock imported goods. Use of the zone is expected to reduce delivery times of goods from China to Thai customers from ten days to three.