Business

Impact on advt, executives, business and govt of Elon Musk taking over Twitter

The billionaire said that Twitter must remain politically neutral if it wants to keep enjoying public trust

May 4, 2022

Amid the Twitter takeover business, govt users need to pay for using the platform says Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday said that business and government users on Twitter may need to pay a slight fee to stay on the micro-blogging platform.

Musk informed about this in a tweet. He tweeted, “Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/ government users.” “Ultimately, the downfall of the Freemasons was giving away their stone cutting services for nothing,” Musk added.

Ultimately, the downfall of the Freemasons was giving away their stonecutting services for nothing
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 3, 2022

Earlier, Musk had said that he wishes to “make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features“. “Some revenue is better than none,” Musk further said.

Meanwhile, Twitter has acknowledged for the first time that its core advertising business could be at risk amid the $44 billion takeover by Elon Musk, along with losing key staff during the process.

In a new filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the micro-blogging platform said it is exposed to new risks related to its “business relationships, financial condition, operating results, cash flows, and business,” including “whether advertisers continue their spending on our platform.”.

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” said Musk.

While the tech billionaire marked his presence at the annual Met Gala in New York earlier this week, Musk said he would make Twitter transparent about how tweets are promoted or demoted.

“I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spambots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it,” he had said.

Musk’s ‘free speech’ call has left Twitter advertisers worried as this could put their brands next to posts filled with hatred and bias.

Twitter said in the new US SEC filing that it continues to generate the “substantial majority of our revenue from advertising” and the loss could harm the business, reports TechCrunch.

“We believe that our ability to compete effectively for advertiser spend depends upon many factors, including ‘our reputation and the strength of our brand relative to our competitors, including advertisers’ perception of the health and safety of our platform,” Twitter explained.

According to reports, Twitter contacted advertising agencies, including campaigners and car manufacturers, to reassure them that Musk’s plans won’t make the platform an inhospitable place for brands.

Twitter last month reached out to its advertisers, reassuring them that Musk’s position as a ‘free speech absolutist‘ and other threats to drastically rejig the platform won’t put the brands in a bad light.

[With Inputs from IANS]

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