Elon musk has announced a massive drop in Twitter’s revenue as a growing number of advertisers pause spending on the platform. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and Tesla cast the blame on activist groups pressuring advertisers. He wrote, “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.”
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
Brands Paused Advertising on Twitter
The brand, including General Mills and the Volkswagen Group, have paused advertising on Twitter as civil society organizations called on Twitter’s advertisers to stop all global spending, citing uncertainty about the direction of the social media platform under Musk. “We have paused advertising on Twitter,” Kelsey Roemhildt, a spokesperson for General Mills, said in a statement. Volkswagen Group has also confirmed that it had recommended its brands to pause their paid activities on the platform until further notice.
The online safety groups have expressed concerns about Mr. Musk’s plans to relax content moderation and reverse permanent Twitter bans imposed on controversial figures, including former US president Donald Trump. However, Musk said that Twitter’s strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged.
Drop in Twitter Revenue Triggered Massive Layoffs
Twitter has initiated a massive layoff, and the company has fired almost half of the workforce. Elon Musk confirmed the layoffs in a tweet, saying there is no choice when the company loses over $4M/day. However, the affected employees were offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required. A Twitter employee said, “The platform is likely to become more toxic with less healthy information to counter the disinformation or misinformation narratives.”
Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day.
Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022
Also read: Twitter to Reportedly Charge $20 Per Month for Blue Tick Verification
