Advertiser Spending on Pause: CEO Yaccarino Admits X’s Woes
Linda Yaccarino, CEO of social media service X, has acknowledged that certain advertisers are temporarily pausing their presence on the platform due to the uproar caused by antisemitic content and comments, some of which were supported by the site’s owner, Elon Musk.
Yaccarino cited a “misleading and manipulated article” that prompted some advertisers to temporarily suspend their spending, citing a Media Matters article that found ads from major brands placed near offensive content. He follows Musk in criticizing the report, which they say misrepresents the experience of X, formerly Twitter.
“The data tells the true story,” Yaccarino said in a memo to staff on Sunday. “Because for all of us who work at X, we have been very clear about our efforts to fight anti-Semitism and discrimination, which has no place anywhere in the world.”
X faced widespread backlash on Friday after Musk agreed with a message that Jews have a “dialectical hatred” of whites. “You have spoken the real truth,” Musk replied.
His comments fueled outrage after a Media Matters report on Thursday found ads from Apple Inc., International Business Machines Corp., Oracle Corp., Comcast Corp.’s Xfinity brand and the Bravo television network ran alongside pro-Nazi content. That led IBM, Apple, Walt Disney Co., Paramount Global and others to stop advertising on X until the situation is resolved.
“In every corner of this company, we strive to create a platform for everyone,” Yaccarino said in the letter. “And there’s no other platform that works as hard to protect free speech as X. Our work is critical, but it’s not always easy. What we do is important, which means it naturally draws criticism from those who don’t share our beliefs.
Musk hit out at “false” media reports accusing him of anti-Semitism. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” Musk said in a message to X.
Musk has long drawn fire for promoting hate speech. His latest post drew criticism from both politicians and some of the world’s biggest companies, who have called on the billionaire to better control the content on his platform.
