Twitter has always been a “safe space” for racists, trolls, and other assorted bad actors on the internet. With new ownership under Elon Musk’s leadership promising to “not be the arbiter of truth,” it seems like an obvious choice for people who want to anonymously spread hateful rhetoric or just generally harass people.
Brands are fleeing twitter
GM is the first major brand to suspend its advertising on Twitter following Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media platform. “We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership, and we want to ensure they respect our brands,” said GM in a statement.
Ford said it has no plans to advertise on Twitter at all.
“At this time, we have no plans to advertise on Twitter. We are constantly evaluating our advertising strategies and making sure they align with our business objectives,” Ford told ADOTAT.
GM said it plans to continue its relationship with Twitter as a platform for customer engagement, but not as an advertising vehicle. “We are deeply committed to serving our customers through the power of social media and continue to invest in this channel,” said GM in a statement.
Elon Musk, used the platform he now owns to amplify a baseless anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theory about the hammer attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband and definitely didn’t help to ease advertisers’ worry about his commitment to brand safety or moderation.
For some strange reason, Musk decided to spread a bizarre, anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi in San Francisco that had been published by a fake news website that once claimed Hillary Clinton was really dead. The Twitter and Tesla boss gave no explanation for his comments, simply sharing a link to an article that claimed – without any evidence – that Mr. Pelosi was drunk and met his alleged attacker in a gay bar.
In his comments, Musk was responding to a tweet by Hillary Clinton that sought to draw a line between Republicans who promote baseless conspiracy theories and the violent attack on Paul Pelosi in San Francisco. He deleted the tweet later, but then doubled down on it by posting an article about the NYTIMES coverage of his tweet, and implied it was a fake news site.
Musk has been criticized for promoting unfounded conspiracy theories in the past, and recently he suggested that there was a high likelihood that an AI would destroy humanity.
He also promoted an unsubstantiated claim that a British diver involved in the Thailand cave rescue was a “child rapist”. He apologized and deleted that tweet later.
According to one agency head Alex Brownsell, head of WARC Media told Digiday that they were already concerned about brand safety before Musk bought it, and this just confirms their worries about the worst happening under him.
“It’s a bad look, and it reinforces our concerns about brand safety with the platform,” said Brownsell. “We don’t know how much of this is Musk being reckless or whether it is deliberate. But we do know that if he wants to recover from this situation, he will have to put in place some very clear policies around what types of content are permitted on the platform.”
Agencies ADOTAT.com spoke to this morning, all said they would be taking a look at Twitter and Musk’s actions to see if it fits their values in 2022. Many were not yet authorized to speak to the press, but made it clear they were going to make changes because of Musk’s leadership.
“It’s the first time we’ve had a major social media platform that is actively being socially irresponsible,” said one agency head. “It’s going to be hard for us to work with them in the future.”
It’s not surprising to see white nationalist groups and racist trolls using Twitter in the midst of a new ownership regime that says they’re welcome there.
The site has already now become haven for white nationalists and racist trolls, who have been emboldened by the platform’s new ownership regime that says they’re welcome there.
The site has struggled to moderate its in the past content, which has resulted in a wave of bans and suspensions for users who violate the site’s terms of service. Because of this, the platform has been accused by some conservatives of censoring right-wing voices, and Musk has amplified these claims numerous times in recent weeks.
The tech billionaire has been an active user on Twitter, often engaging in political debates and sharing his thoughts on things like the state of artificial intelligence. In recent months, Musk has become embroiled in a number of controversies over his tweets about politics and science.
Twitter already has long had a reputation for being the haven of racists, trolls, and other assorted bad actors on the internet.
Twitter already has long had a reputation for being the haven of racists, trolls, and other assorted bad actors on the internet. The platform itself is a place where people can say things they might not be able to say elsewhere, but it has also been a place where people spread hate and racism.
With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that Twitter will become home to some of the worst people on the internet. After all, if you’re going to do something that’s controversial or offensive, there’s no better place than one where you can get away with it–where there’s no filter or moderator who might tell you “no.”
Because no one has ever told Musk “no,” he seems to have few ethical constraints. And that should worry advertisers who could spend billions on Twitter, and then face an angry CEO who decided the next day to completely trash and ruin the brand that supports the site. The fact that Musk has become a Twitter troll may be the best argument for brands to leave Twitter. If he’s not going to be able keep his mouth shut, how can we expect him to actually moderate hateful and gross content?
