0

Advertisers have begun questioning Elon Musk on Twitter’s ‘free for all’

Share

[ad_1]

Elon Musk promised advertisers that he would prevent Twitter from becoming a “free for all” site. This week, advertisers began asking for details on how it plans to support the commitment.

A media buyer at a major ad agency, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals, said the agency will meet with Musk this week to ask how the Tesla CEO plans to crack down on misinformation on the social media platform.

The buyer also wanted to know how Musk’s pledge correlated with his actions, including one tweet over the weekend that spread a conspiracy theory about the attack on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul.

Other topics include Musk’s plan to raise the cost of Twitter’s subscription service and introduce “half the number of ads,” which will serve as a point of contact for advertisers after a parade of senior executives, including the head of Twitter ads, have left the company since taking over.

The media buyer said the agency’s top agents are expected to join the meeting.

Twitter Now Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

After tweeting in 2019 his hatred of ads, Musk is now under pressure to avoid alienating advertisers who contribute more than 90% of his revenue. He’s spending his first week as CEO in New York, where friends of venture capitalists join him in meetings to reassure companies that contribute more than $5 billion a year to Twitter.

Jason Calacanis, an angel investor and podcast host who helped Musk in his first week of ownership, tweeted Monday that Twitter had a “very productive day” of meetings with advertisers and marketers.

Another media buyer who spoke with Reuters said their agency would not meet with Musk until he clarifies a direction for Twitter or provides a substantive update on how the platform serves advertisers.

The second media buyer, who declined to name the advertisers because the source was not authorized to do so, said some customers have already started pausing ad spending on Twitter this week.

The buyer said some customers had already pulled out of Twitter due to the months-long chaos around the deal, and others in response to concerns about child sexual abuse material on Twitter.

IPG, an advertising holding company that represents major customers including Coca-Cola and American Express, has advised customers to pause their Twitter ads for the next week, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Although Musk has held meetings with major agencies and advertisers this week, he took to Twitter on Wednesday night with a poll asking users whether advertisers should support free speech or “political correctness.” Of the more than 1 million votes, 80% answered “freedom of speech.”

“This kind of provocation does not help calm the atmosphere,” the media buyer said.

More marketers have also turned to LinkedIn to express their concerns about Musk’s takeover of the platform.

“Unless Elon hires new leaders committed to keeping this ‘free’ platform safe from hate speech, it is not a platform that brands can/should advertise on,” said Ali Wassum, global director of social media and integrative for the Jordanian-owned footwear brand. By Nike, in a post on Linkedin.

Wassom did not respond to a request for further comments.

Read all files Latest technology news over here

[ad_2]

Source link