Since Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter last week, at least six major companies have stopped advertising on the platform over concerns about how the billionaire will affect content moderation policies on the app. During the rocky process of acquiring the platform, marked by U-turns, controversies, and lawsuits, Musk pledged to make Twitter a champion of free speech. This promise led many right-wingers to see Musk’s takeover as a victory for conservatives over political correctness, though the Tesla CEO is yet to implement any changes to the way the platform moderates content. But where right-wingers saw potential, many companies appear to have spotted a risk of damage to their business, especially after a sudden surge of slurs and hateful comments were reported on the platform immediately following Musk’s takeover. This could be a problem for Musk’s Twitter: before his takeover, the company reported making 90 percent of its revenue from advertisers. Now that Twitter is set to charge its blue-tick users $8 per month to keep their verified badge, it’s unclear whether this could make up for lost revenues from advertising. Automaker Ford Motor Company told CNBC last week that it won’t be promoting its products on Twitter. It had not been doing so even before Musk’s takeover.
via newsweek: Every Advertiser to Pull Out of Twitter Since Musk’s Takeover—Full List
siehe auch: Twitter-Übernahme Musk droht abtrünnigen Werbekunden Der neue Eigentümer von Twitter, Elon Musk, hat Werbekunden davor gewarnt, keine Anzeigen mehr bei dem Kurzmitteilungsdienst zu schalten. Er werde sie öffentlich bloßstellen. Wörtlich schrieb Musk auf Twitter: „Ein thermonukleares Benennen und Schämen ist exakt das, was passieren wird, wenn das nicht aufhört.“ Er wirft den Firmen vor, sich dem Druck von „Aktivistengruppen“ zu beugen. Diese versuchten, „die Redefreiheit in Amerika zu zerstören“. Ein Mitstreiter, der rechte Internet-Lobbyist Mike Davies, hatte Musk deshalb vorgeschlagen, abtrünnige Werbekunden mit einem Gegenboykott zu belegen. Laut Musk ist Twitter derzeit mit einem „massiven Umsatzeinbruch“ konfrontiert. In den vergangenen Tagen hatten unter anderem Volkswagen, der Pharmakonzern Pfizer und der Lebensmittelriese Mondelez angekündigt, Werbung bei Twitter auszusetzen. Die Firmen befürchten, dass ihre Anzeigen neben negativen Inhalten bei Twitter auftauchen könnten. Werbung macht fast das gesamte Geschäft von Twitter aus; Elon Musk Tries to Win Advertisers Back by Threatening Them. Elon Musk is threatening to “name and shame” advertisers who have hit pause on Twitter while his takeover of the social media platform sows chaos. The idea, apparently, is that Musk’s fans would boycott those companies until they agree to start funneling ad bucks to Twitter again. General Mills, General Motors, Volkswagen, and Pfizer are among the major corporations that have stopped advertising on Twitter since Musk bought it a week ago for $44 billion. The vast majority of Twitter’s revenue comes from advertising, and the new boss was not happy to see the bottom line drying up. “Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists,” Musk tweeted Friday morning. “Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America.” Ironically, after Twitter users flagged the tweet, a Guardian story about why advertisers were actually fleeing the site was added as “context.” Hate speech on the platform ballooned after Musk’s purchase, and banned users immediately began clamoring for reinstatement, undoubtedly making advertisers nervous.