Twitter reassures advertisers Musk won’t make the platform more of a toxic hell-hole than it already is

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

According to a report, the advertising agencies have been reassured that Musk's plans for the platform won't make it an inhospitable place for brands.

Musk has promised that, under his watch, he will take a maximalist approach to free speech and possibly remove content that is illegal. This would mean easing restrictions on a variety of unpleasant but legal forms of speech, from Nazi propaganda to medical misinformation. Corporations don't want to be associated with this content.

According to an email seen by the Financial Times, Twitter has reached out to ad agencies to tell them that the advertisements they make for big brands won't appear alongside offensive content. The report does not offer any more information but it shows that there is a lot of fear that Musk's leadership will lead to an increase in hate speech.

The Anti-Defamation League and the National Association for the advancement of Colored People have expressed concern that Musk's leadership will be a boon for antisemitic and racist voices.

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL, told Haaretz that hate and extremism in digital spaces can lead to physical violence against Jews and other marginalized communities. While we want to be cautiously optimistic about how Musk will run the platform, he hasn't shown any focus on these issues to date. He could take things in a different direction.

The president of the NAACP said that Mr. Musk's hate speech was unacceptable. There is no place for misinformation, hate speech or false information on the platform.

The ADL boycotted advertisements on Facebook in response to the company's policies on hate speech. The ADL said that the campaign mostly led to changes while Facebook's advertising revenue seemed unaffected.

Because of its small size, it is more vulnerable to coordinated action by advertisers. In the year 2021, it generated $4.5 billion in ad revenue, compared to $114 billion for Facebook. Musk has said that he isn't buying the company for the money, but for his ideological goals. The comments should be taken with a pinch of salt. It isn't a money-spinner but it has benefited Musk financially. They think that lost ad revenue won't be an immediate concern.