Activision Blizzard exec – and ‘torture apologist’ – deletes Twitter after inflammatory post
Frances Townsend at the 2016 Concordia Summit. (Getty Images)
Activision Blizzard exec Frances Townsend has deleted her Twitter account after blocking employees on the platform.
Townsend was criticised for sharing an article about whistleblowing in the midst of the company’s ongoing sexual harassment lawsuit.
It appears she has now deleted her account as a result of that criticism.
Townsend was also criticised by Activision Blizzard employees for her response to the lawsuit, which included an internal email that described it as “meritless and irresponsible”. Her poor response is considered to be a key driving force behind the formal employee walkout.
Prior to working at Activision Blizzard from March 2021, she worked as Homeland Security Adviser to President Bush and has been described as a ‘torture apologist’ due to her 2009 defence of CIA torture methods.
CEO Bobby Kotick has also responded to the lawsuit again in the latest Activision Blizzard earnings call, as reported by VGC.
“I want to start by making it clear to everyone that there is no place at our company where discrimination, harassment or unequal treatment of any kind will be tolerated,” he began.
“We appreciate the current and former employees who have come forward in the past and recent days with courage, and I want to reiterate the commitments we have made to you.
“Our work environment – everywhere we operate – will not permit discrimination, harassment or unequal treatment. We will be the company that sets the example for this in our industry. While we’ve taken many steps towards this objective already, today we are taking even more.”
He also promised to investigate every claim they receive and take decisive action.
However, employees remain angry at the company’s response and their failure to address employee demands for improvement.
An employee statement specifically calls out Kotick’s lack of “meaningful” progress in making change.
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