Social network X (formerly Twitter), owned by Elon Musk, is losing key advertisers amid scandals over anti-Semitic and Nazi posts, UNN reports citing DW.
Details
According to reports, on Friday, November 17, the technology corporation Apple, Disney, as well as the film studios Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Sony Pictures and Lionsgate.
Earlier, the American IT giant IBM announced a similar decision. The corporation stated that it has "zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination" and is suspending its advertising campaign on the microblogging platform until "this completely unacceptable situation is investigated." According to The New York Times, the corporation was going to spend $1 million on advertising on X in the fourth quarter of this year.
Addendum
This happened after the non-profit organization Media Matters drew attention to the fact that ads of some of the listed companies were displayed on X alongside posts praising Hitler and Nazism. The social network then reported on the "purge" of pro-Nazi accounts.
Another scandal erupted after Musk supported an anti-Semitic tweet on November 15 and then accused a Jewish NGO that fights anti-Semitism of allegedly "promoting racism."
X's capitalization has fallen by 55% since Musk bought the social network. According to experts, this was largely the result of Musk's reforms, which fired most moderators and restored accounts of right-wing extremists and conspiracy theorists. As a result, a wave of hatred and disinformation swept through the platform, the businessman's critics emphasize.
Musk himself accused "many of the largest advertisers" of being "the biggest oppressors of the right to freedom of expression." He urged users to switch to a paid subscription to X, which prevents ads, and called Media Matters "pure evil."
Reacting to both scandals, X CEO Linda Yaccarino wrote on her microblog that the social network she heads has consistently "taken a clear stand against anti-Semitism and discrimination," fighting these phenomena "that have no place anywhere in the world." At the same time, Yakkarino did not comment on Musk's posts.