Head of Safety at @X.
San Francisco, CA
Joined July 2008
- Tweets9.6K
- Following527
- Followers16.7K
- Likes17.3K
Michael O'Herlihy retweeted
I was wondering why I’m not getting tagged in account recovery requests anymore. Did people finally stop getting phished? 🤔🎣
We shipped a self-service recovery flow last month. Now, if someone breaks into your account, clicking the email or phone notification automatically rolls back your authentication credentials to their pre-phishing state.
Now that we’ve made account recovery a little easier, we will focus on other safety issues on the platform. 👀
ALT Eagle with a laptop
I'll be at the Brand & AI Safety Summit in New York next week speaking on why open-source recommender systems and visible controls matter for safety and accountability – for users and advertisers.
When the ranking code that shapes what people see can be examined, and when people can see any labels that limit their own reach, users and brands have a practical way to check claims for themselves.
Looking forward to the discussion.
Michael O'Herlihy retweeted
I've only been at X for a couple of weeks, but there's one thing that is really critical to understand:
This team is full of technical, creative, dedicated people (like @yagiznizipli and his team) focused on three things above all:
1. The performance of the X service, such that X loads quickly and works well;
2. The safety of our community, such that we are free from abuse and hate;
3. The prevention of spam, particularly bots and AI, to keep the platform authentic.
These are all forever battles, but we are committed to them. You'll see more and more of the team posting about these improvements — particularly around performance and AI spam/bots.
Regardless of politics, we all saw X at its best over the last 24 hours. By focusing on the fundamentals, this platform will continue to be the best place for what's happening now.
The web rewrite is working.
On a slow connection, the old X web took more than 22 seconds to show the first post on a profile. The new X web does it in 2.7 seconds. Here's how we did it, and how we're rolling it out one country at a time.
blog.x.com/en/engineering/re…
Thank you X team for removing the sensitive media label that had affected my account for nearly two years.
@michaelo @XDevelopers @X @allegrajacchia @i_aliullov @myleswagner @Jamiebierman @XCreators @petersellis @yagiznizipli @santiagomed @taycaldwell
Michael O'Herlihy retweeted
In August, X open-sourced the code that affects a post’s visibility in the For You feed – including ranking, model configuration, filters, and core systems. The repository is publicly available, updated regularly, and accepts pull requests from outside contributors.
Alongside the open-sourced code, Under the Hood gives eligible users aggregate data on any visibility-limiting labels applied to their account or posts, including cases driven by local legal demands.
Together they make the system inspectable. That is the standard.
Michael O'Herlihy retweeted
Excited to have Michael O’Herlihy as the new Head of Safety at X. He’ll lead our work to keep people and brands safe across the platform and our AI systems, while protecting free expression and making Safety more transparent.
@michaelo will be at the Brand & AI Safety Summit in New York next Tuesday November 10 making the case for why open systems and controls people can see matter for both safety and advertiser confidence.
Michael O'Herlihy retweeted
Under the Hood now shows you which posts received a visibility-limiting label, making it easier to see what’s affected: xitter.twitterapi.xyz/i/jf/under_the_hood
This was a top request — thanks for the feedback.
You’ll see the specific posts listed when fewer than 5% of your posts during the report period have that label.
ALT Screenshot of X's Under The Hood feature, showing a list of posts that have a given label.
I’m joining the team at @X to lead Product.
I am a huge believer in @SpaceX's mission to extend human consciousness to the stars, so it’s time to make shitposting multiplanetary.
X is the best way to find out what’s happening in the world right now and talk about it. The team has been working tirelessly to make X a better place and product for the people who love it, and many have noticed the recent momentum. My goal is to help accelerate that momentum for our community, new users, and businesses globally by continuing to make this product beautiful and useful.
We are twenty years in, but it truly feels like X’s next chapter will be our greatest. I look forward to your ideas and feedback; I’m sure the replies will be measured and magnanimous.
Michael O'Herlihy retweeted
I’m joining the team at @X to lead Product.
I am a huge believer in @SpaceX's mission to extend human consciousness to the stars, so it’s time to make shitposting multiplanetary.
X is the best way to find out what’s happening in the world right now and talk about it. The team has been working tirelessly to make X a better place and product for the people who love it, and many have noticed the recent momentum. My goal is to help accelerate that momentum for our community, new users, and businesses globally by continuing to make this product beautiful and useful.
We are twenty years in, but it truly feels like X’s next chapter will be our greatest. I look forward to your ideas and feedback; I’m sure the replies will be measured and magnanimous.
@charlieangel910 @GretchenPSmith This was clearly an error. It was already corrected before I saw your posts. We are looking at how it happened so it doesn't happen again.
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Michael O'Herlihy retweeted
People come to X to talk about what's happening in the world, including the upcoming 2026 US midterms. Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and we are proud that X is the global town square where these debates happen. Our job is to keep that conversation authentic, open, and safe.
To ensure these fundamental values are protected during elections, our Safety team uses a variety of detection methods to proactively find and act on activity that breaks the X Rules. These measures build on the safety protections we run 24/7, year-round. X's Authenticity Policy is particularly important to this work. Whether it is spam networks or entities engaged in influence operations, we are actively working to identify and stop coordinated inauthentic behavior that undermines the integrity of our platform.
Through proactive sweeps and investigations, X recently identified and suspended more than 13,000 accounts involved in three suspected foreign influence operations linked to Iran, Russia, and China that targeted US political conversation. The networks used inauthentic accounts to post and amplify content about US politics, targeting candidates and public figures across the political spectrum.
X's Civic Integrity policy addresses misleading content that could affect participation in elections or other civic processes. This includes content that may confuse people about how, when, or where to participate, or that aims to discourage participation. X relies on Community Notes, which let people add context and credible sources, alongside platform moderation. Users can report content under "Civic Integrity" in our in-app reporting flow, and their submission will be routed to request a Community Note, a collaborative way to add helpful context to posts and keep people better informed. Additionally, in critical escalations, X may apply a Civic Integrity label to posts that violate our policy.
We remain committed to X as a global town square where people openly debate topics of public interest and engage with election-related information. Our work continues through Election Day and beyond.
See our Civic Integrity Policy for more information:
help.x.com/en/rules-and-poli…
Heads up there is another hacked account/scammer. The account is @KBargerwsj Do NOT click any links they send you or interact with them in any way
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hey Michael, similar case here. our business account @dzine_ai was phished and the attacker is using it to extort us. details in my post, would really appreciate a look 🙏 xitter.twitterapi.xyz/stevezhen98/status/211…
@michaelo our verified business account @dzine_ai got phished by a fake "X copyright appeal" email. attacker changed the password and 2FA, then DMed me from it asking for $3,000.
still have the original email, business license, and X billing records. support forms haven't gotten a single human reply after dozens of tries. could your team take a look?
cc @Safety @XBusiness
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Our official account, originally @raptoreum, was taken over on about 29 or 30 July. The attacker renamed the handle to (@fireilghtfr). That account is now suspended and not searchable. Our Raptoreum handle was claimed by a new account running a fake $RTM airdrop with our logo and name.
To wit:
Raptoreum Network
@raptoreum
Raptoreum ecosystem | $RTM token airdrop in progress
raptoreumlabs.vercel.app
Joined July 2026
Before the takeover, our account had about 15,000 followers, Premium, and a history back to November 2018. The owner had government ID already on file from X KYC. Your process asked for the same information at least 2 times. Provided.
This is an issue: The owner never received a warning about this despite 2FA. No login or permission email reached the owner either. As far Grok can tell, there is no mechanism for a two-confirm process: a second person's authorization such as from an authorized poster. So, there is a way to at least reach out to that poster, who, as it is, owns this account, to confirm. That would have stopped this. All business accounts should have this type of option.
We are asking for the original account to be restored to him, and for the the return of our @raptoreum handle.
@michaelo, we've tried X's process. Still waiting for what should be an open and shut case. Meanwhile, it's cost us an important exchange listing. Hence, we requested you keep all records including ISP addresses associated with the theft.
Of course, we are happy to provide whatever is needed to verify ownership. We can post a message of your choice on our official YouTube channel to verify.
Thanks for your attention to this matter.
Hey @michaelo can you help Greg with this? He’s a longtime X user and a super solid guy with so many connections in real life with good people here on X.
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The lock out of @mattvanswol is ridiculous and obviously a reach. Is there any update on this?
I’m back.
I want to thank everyone who spoke up on my behalf, I am truly blown away by the support I received.
I also want to thank the X team who entered into a thoughtful discussion with me about content and their decision-making process.
I have given my feedback to their team and it was well received.
It is incredibly important that we are allowed to share news, no matter how awful, sad, or infuriating that news may be.
I will not stop reporting on violent crime and making sure victims receive justice.
Too often, certain crimes receive far too little attention because of the race of the attacker and/or the race of the victim.
X is a place where stories can get out into the open that the mainstream media ignores due to their biases.
I saw it first-hand during Hurricane Helene 2 years ago when the media left early and I was one of the few left reporting on the aftermath, months later.
X is the most important platform on earth because it is the most free platform on earth.
Do not stop sharing stories you feel deserve to be heard, I certaintly won’t be stopping.
You have a voice and you can, and do, make real world change by using it.
Don’t stop.
Thank you all.
Michael O'Herlihy retweeted
I’m back.
I want to thank everyone who spoke up on my behalf, I am truly blown away by the support I received.
I also want to thank the X team who entered into a thoughtful discussion with me about content and their decision-making process.
I have given my feedback to their team and it was well received.
It is incredibly important that we are allowed to share news, no matter how awful, sad, or infuriating that news may be.
I will not stop reporting on violent crime and making sure victims receive justice.
Too often, certain crimes receive far too little attention because of the race of the attacker and/or the race of the victim.
X is a place where stories can get out into the open that the mainstream media ignores due to their biases.
I saw it first-hand during Hurricane Helene 2 years ago when the media left early and I was one of the few left reporting on the aftermath, months later.
X is the most important platform on earth because it is the most free platform on earth.
Do not stop sharing stories you feel deserve to be heard, I certaintly won’t be stopping.
You have a voice and you can, and do, make real world change by using it.
Don’t stop.
Thank you all.