Well, well, well, what do we have here? It seems Google, in all its infinite wisdom, has decided to go on a wild adventure of placing ads next to some of the most revolting content on the internet. You know, the stuff that makes you want to wash your eyeballs with bleach and reconsider your entire digital existence. Welcome to XTwitter, folks—where your brand’s shiny logo could very well be the next thing you see after a video of someone’s amateur audition for “Debbie Does Dallas” or, worse, a rousing speech from Adolf Hitler. Yes, this is the new reality, and it’s as horrifying as it sounds.
So how did we get here? Great question. X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has been on a free-fall trajectory ever since Elon Musk decided to turn it into his personal playground for free speech absolutism—or, as it turns out, a cesspool where the worst of humanity is given a megaphone. Ads from respectable companies—well, companies that used to be respectable—are now cropping up next to content that’s straight out of your worst nightmares.
You’d think Google, with all its algorithms and AI-powered brainpower, would know better. But apparently, someone in Mountain View thought it was a stellar idea to shove ads onto X’s main feed without bothering to check what’s lurking in the shadows. Spoiler alert: it’s not pretty.
Nancy Levine Stearns, a journalist and friend of mine, with a stronger stomach than most, has been knee-deep in this digital cesspool, documenting the daily horror show that X has become. Picture this: a timeline that looks like it’s been pulled straight from the bowels of the dark web, with ads for your favorite household products cozying up to adult videos that would make even the most seasoned internet users do a double-take. And then, just when you think it can’t get worse, there’s the casual threat to exterminate an entire people, dropped in like it’s just another Tuesday. That’s right, folks. Ads for soap, right next to posts advocating for a “final solution.” If irony had a physical form, it’d be slapping us all in the face right now.
Nancy, bless her, has been keeping tabs on this madness, trying to hold onto her sanity while she documents the collapse of what little decency remains on the internet. It’s like someone threw open the dungeon doors, let the trolls out, and then handed them a megaphone. And Nancy? She’s the one stuck trying to make sense of it all, watching as the line between acceptable and abhorrent content becomes increasingly blurred. But let’s be real—there’s no making sense of this. It’s a full-blown descent into the digital underworld, and Nancy’s just trying to keep from losing her lunch.
But don’t just take Nancy’s word for it. NBC News, always eager for a good horror story, decided to do some digging of their own. And what did they find? Oh, just that X has become the new go-to hub for pro-Nazi content. That’s right—Elon Musk’s grand vision of a “free” internet has devolved into a playground for the worst kind of hate.
We’re talking at least 150 “Premium” subscribers—yes, people are actually paying to spread this filth—actively posting or amplifying Nazi propaganda. It’s like someone took the darkest corners of Reddit, mashed them up with 4chan’s worst offenders, and then gave them all a stage on X.
And to make matters worse, Google decided to show up with a keg of ad dollars, sponsoring this digital hatefest.
The platform’s rules, which are supposed to ban glorifying violence, ave turned out to be about as effective as a chocolate teapot in a heatwave. They’re leaking like a sieve, and the hate is spilling out all over the place. X has become a total mess, a quagmire of filth where the worst of humanity is not just tolerated but actively encouraged. And guess who’s getting stuck in the middle of this?
The brands that thought they were just buying some harmless ad space. They signed up for digital marketing, and instead, they’re getting a front-row seat to the internet’s version of a dystopian nightmare.
So, where does that leave us? Well, it leaves us with a platform that’s gone off the rails, a CEO who seems more interested in shock value than in keeping things even remotely respectable, and a bunch of advertisers who are now scrambling to distance themselves from the hate-filled mess that X has become. It’s a perfect storm of bad decisions, unchecked hate, and the inevitable fallout when you mix the two. Nancy’s got her work cut out for her, and so do the brands trying to untangle themselves from this digital disaster.
One such brand is IQAir, a Swiss company that makes air quality devices. Sounds innocuous enough, right? Well, NBC News caught one of their ads hanging out next to Holocaust denial content. That’s like opening a health food store next to a KFC—only much, much worse. IQAir, understandably horrified, scrambled to adjust their ad settings, trying to steer clear of X’s hate-filled rabbit holes. But here’s the kicker: they were already using X’s targeting features designed to avoid this exact scenario. So much for that. When the system is this broken, it doesn’t matter how many settings you tweak; the hate is going to seep through.
But It Gets Worse
Now, here’s where it gets really juicy. According to MarketingBrew, several advertisers have found themselves unwittingly slapped onto X, like some kind of twisted digital prank. They never signed up for this, and now they’re left wondering why Google decided to take them along for this ride through the internet’s seediest back alleys. One bewildered business owner, who clearly didn’t sign up to be Musk’s bedfellow, told MarketingBrew, “I don’t want us affiliated with anything related to politics or religion…and I don’t want us related to anything extremist.” Well, pal, I’ve got some bad news for you. Your brand is now firmly planted in the middle of the most extremist political cesspool this side of 4chan, thanks to Google’s brilliant partnership with X.
But wait, there’s more! The issue isn’t just about where these ads show up on X—it’s the fact that the whole platform has become a smorgasbord of hate, adult content, and whatever else slithered out of the internet’s underbelly. No joke, someone actually spotted an ad right next to a video of a woman getting intimately acquainted with herself, let’s just say. And I’m not talking about some obscure corner of the site. This was front and center, as if X was trying to channel its inner PornHub.
The moderation—or lack thereof—on this platform has reached levels of absurdity that would be funny if it weren’t so deeply disturbing. Imagine opening your app to check the news, only to be greeted by an ad for vacuum cleaners followed by someone’s DIY attempt at adult entertainment. It’s like living in a bad fever dream, and we’ve got Musk to thank for it.
Now, you might be wondering what Musk himself has to say about this. As usual, he’s doubling down, telling users that they “should be able to create, distribute, and consume material related to sexual themes as long as it is consensually produced and distributed.” In other words, X is now your one-stop-shop for everything from political hate speech to porn, because, hey, free speech, baby! The man doesn’t seem to care that this turns X into an adult site governed by special laws that are supposed to keep minors—and, let’s be honest, most adults—away from this kind of content. But Musk is on a mission to prove that he’s the king of edgelords, and if that means turning X into the internet’s red-light district, so be it.
This whole fiasco feels eerily reminiscent of the rise and fall of Tumblr, that once-beloved haven for artists, weirdos, and everyone in between. Tumblr was a paradise of adult content until it decided to ban it all in 2018, only to backtrack slightly in 2022 to allow some nudity, just not the explicit stuff. Tumblr realized—albeit a little too late—that maybe, just maybe, letting the internet’s wild side run free wasn’t the best business model. But here’s the difference: Musk isn’t backing down. He’s going full steam ahead, convinced that this NSFW free-for-all is the key to making X profitable, even as advertisers are fleeing the platform faster than rats from a sinking ship. The New York Times reported that X could lose up to $200 million in revenue this year alone because advertisers are tired of their brands getting tarnished by association with this hellscape.
And what does Google have to say about all this? Not a peep. When asked for a comment, Google’s spokesperson apparently ghosted faster than your last Tinder date. And as for the people at X who are supposed to be in charge of safety? Well, they’ve been muzzled too. Apparently, speaking to the media about how the platform’s turned into a digital dumpster fire isn’t part of the job description anymore. So here we are, watching this train wreck in slow motion, with no one at the wheel willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t such a great idea after all.
Welcome to the new X, where your brand’s ad could be the next thing someone sees before they lose all faith in humanity. It’s a brave new world out there, and if you’re not careful, you might just find yourself part of the spectacle. But hey, at least it’s free speech, right?
