OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
President Joe Biden is picking a war with Elon Musk and he may not know what he is getting himself into.
The president, who appeared to have no issue with Twitter conservatives said that they were being censored, apparently now believes that it is dangerous.
“Elon Musk goes out and buys an outfit that spews lies all across the world,” he said at a Democrat fundraiser near Chicago, CNN reported.
“There’s no editors anymore in America,” he said.
It comes as Musk threatened to go nuclear on those who want advertisers to boycott Twitter.
Musk is not caving to the threats of advertiser boycotts and he is even taking it further with a threat of his own.
As advertisers have begun to question their relationships with Twitter, after the new CEO has taken control.
He said that caving to the left boycotts will have a “thermonuclear” reaction and he will name and shame those companies.
“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,” he said on Twitter.
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
“It’s time to stop appeasing the activists because they will stop at nothing to hurt Twitter regardless of what you do,” conservative Ian Miles Cheong said in a response to which Musk said “You’re right.”
But another Twitter user had an idea of what the CEO should do.
“Dear @elonmusk: You have nearly 114,000,000 Twitter followers. Name and shame the advertisers who are succumbing to the advertiser boycotts. So we can counter-boycott them. And get your $8 monthly subscription going asap. So we can start to makeup for lost revenue now,” Mike Davis said.
Dear @elonmusk:
You have nearly 114,000,000 Twitter followers.
Name and shame the advertisers who are succumbing to the advertiser boycotts.
So we can counter-boycott them.
And get your $8 monthly subscription going asap.
So we can start to makeup for lost revenue now. https://t.co/0IAKTnXTes
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) November 4, 2022
“Thank you. A thermonuclear name & shame is exactly what will happen if this continues,” he said.
Thank you.
A thermonuclear name & shame is exactly what will happen if this continues.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022
Some organizations, including Media Matters for America, the NAACP, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, penned a letter to the executives of some of Twitter’s main advertisers expressing their concerns.
“Dear CEOs: Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter came with his promise to advertisers like you that the social network would not transform into a ‘free-for-all hellscape’ and would remain ‘warm and welcoming to all,’” the group said.
“But beware: Musk’s promises in no way accurately portray his plans for Twitter, nor are they a reflection of the evolving reality of the platform as it transforms by the minute under Musk. If Elon Musk follows through with just a fraction of what he has already committed to doing, then Twitter will not and can not be a safe platform for brands. Urgent action is needed by advertisers,” they said.
“Among Musk’s first acts as owner was to spread a dangerous conspiracy theory about a violent attack on the husband of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. He also fired several top executives, including Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s head of legal policy, trust, and safety.
“Within 24 hours of Musk taking ownership, the platform was inundated with hate and disinformation. Not only are extremists celebrating Musk’s takeover of Twitter, they are seeing it as a new opportunity to post the most abusive, harassing, and racist language and imagery. This includes clear threats of violence against people with whom they disagree. Without deliberate efforts by Twitter to address this type of abuse and hate, your brands will be actively supporting accelerating extremism,” they said.
“Additionally, he has threatened to drastically reduce employee headcount, putting those responsible for maintaining community standards and protecting user safety first on the chopping block. Musk has also publicly supported the idea of restoring the accounts of prominent individuals Twitter had suspended for inciting and glorifying political violence, spreading election- and COVID-related disinformation and abusing people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, or disability,” the group said.
“Your companies are Twitter’s 20 largest US advertisers, spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Your posture and response to Musk’s plans during this moment matter for your brands.
We, the undersigned organizations, call on you to notify Musk and publicly commit that you will cease all advertising on Twitter globally if he follows through on his plans to undermine brand safety and community standards including gutting content moderation. This means that Musk must not roll back the basic moderation practices Twitter already has on the books now and must commit to actually enforcing those rules,” they said.
“We know that brand safety is of the utmost importance to you. As such, you also have a moral and civic obligation to take a stand against the degradation of one of the world’s most influential communications platforms, and to hold Musk to the pledge he made to you to ensure that Twitter is a welcoming and civil place for everyone,” they said.
