Elon Musk blames activists for brands pulling ads

Musk has recently acknowledged that advertisement spending on the platform had slumped.

Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk has recently acknowledged that advertisement spending on the platform had slumped and blamed the drop on pressure from activists.

As mass layoffs begin at Twitter, major advertisers are pausing their campaigns on the social network. Advertisers also fear that misinformation and hate speech would be allowed to proliferate on the platform under Elon Musk's leadership.

Major advertisers have expressed apprehension about Musk's takeover for months. Brands including General Motors Co (GM.N) and General Mills Inc (GIS.N) have said they stopped advertising on Twitter while awaiting information about the new direction of the platform.

The Volkswagen Group joined several other companies in recommending that its automotive brands, pause their spending on Twitter out of concerns that their ads could appear alongside problematic content. The Danish brewing company Carlsberg Group also said it had advised its marketing teams to do the same.

As per media reports, civil rights groups including GLAAD and the Anti-Defamation League held a conference call, urging other companies to abandon Twitter due to mass layoffs gutting what they described as an already anemic content moderation staff.

This move has gotten the attention of Musk. In a tweet, Musk acknowledged the advertising slump.

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

The tweet says, "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."