Elon Musk accused political activists of hurting Twitter’s revenue by pressuring corporations to pause their advertising campaigns and framed their actions as an attack on free speech.
Musk complained that advocacy groups forced corporations to withdraw their advertising campaigns over concerns about the platform’s moderation. The billionaire’s complaints follow reports that Pfizer, General Mills, and several other companies withdrew advertising as they consider Twitter’s viability as a platform.
UNCERTAIN FLIGHT PLAN: GENERAL MILLS, PFIZER, AND AUDI JOIN THOSE PAUSING TWITTER ADS
“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,” the billionaire tweeted. “Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America.”
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.
Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022
General Mills (whose brands include Cheerios, Bisquick, and Haagen-Dazs), Pfizer, and Audi are joining General Motors in halting advertising. The companies held off over fears about Twitter scaling back its content moderation, which would lead to a surge in objectionable content on the platform.
Musk’s complaints about declining revenue arrived a day after Twitter’s team sent emails to employees to inform them whether they were being laid off or allowed to stay on staff. Laid-off staff were notified via personal email, while those being kept were notified through their work emails. All employees would be informed by 9 a.m. PST. The company is expected to lose at least half of its staff, according to earlier reports.
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Employees filed a class action lawsuit on Friday alleging that Twitter’s layoffs violate federal labor law.
