Elon Musk is protecting Twitter, aka X, with his life despite the platform being amid several lawsuits and controversies. The billionaire has been witnessing several problems in the company since he took over in October 2022. Musk had to lay off many employees after advertising pulled out of the platform. He employed several policies to compensate for the loss, but Elon is again back to square one.
Elon Musk has an infamous reputation for peddling misinformation and conspiracy theories. Recently, he replied to a post that perpetuated the “Great Replacement Theory.” Elon agreed to the theory, which has sparked heavy backlash, coupled with a report that stated that advertisers are backing out due to their advertisements being placed near pro-Nazi content. Now, after the billionaire asked the advertisers to “fuck themselves”, there is a possibility of another exodus of advertisers leaving X.
Experts Are Claiming Elon Musk Is Killing X
Elon Musk has been engulfed in a series of controversies that have jeopardized the future of X. It all began after Musk endorsed a conspiracy theory that was anti-Semitic. It led to advertisers suspending advertising on the platform. He attended The New York Times’ DealBook Summit, where Elon bashed the advertisers and told them, “Go. Fuck. Yourself.”
During the summit, Elon Musk alleged that companies like The Washington Post and Disney are trying to “blackmail” him “with advertising.” He criticized various companies moving out of X and wished failure upon them for their decisions. The Tesla owner pointed at Bob Iger when he asked the advertisers to f**k themselves.
Jasmine Enberg from Insider Intelligence told Reuters that it is Elon Musk who is killing X and not the advertisers. She said, “Should X collapse, an autopsy would reveal a series of platform policy decisions, staffing cuts, tweets, and antagonistic comments by Musk that have driven away X’s primary source of revenue.”
In Case You Missed: Elon Musk-Owned X Sues Media Matters After Advertisers Flee The Platform
The Billionaire’s Statements Cause Political Candidates To Withdraw From Advertising On X
In January 2023, X overturned the ban that the ex-CEO, Jack Dorsey, put on political advertisements in 2019. The platform announced that it will allow cause-based advertising so that it “can facilitate public conversation around important topics.”
Moving forward, we will align our advertising policy with that of TV and other media outlets. As with all policy changes, we will first ensure that our approach to reviewing and approving content protects people on Twitter. We'll share more details as this work progresses.
— Safety (@Safety) January 3, 2023
The microblogging site ensured that they would work within the purview of advertising policies applied to TV and other media organizations.
However, Elon Musk’s recent anti-Semitic statements have led to political candidates going off from X for their campaigns for the 2024 presidential elections. Mike Nellis, who runs a digital marketing agency that works with Democratic candidates, is getting consent from candidates to endorse their campaign on X.
Mike Nellis said, “Telling major advertisers and Bob Iger to go F themselves might be the last nail in the coffin.”
You Might Also Like To Read: Elon Musk Gets An Invite From Hamas After Israel Amidst Israel-Hamas Ceasefire
