Twitter: Musk does not want to delete hate speech and is risking everything

Twitter
“If we lose money with it, that’s how it is” – Elon Musk does not want to delete hate speech and is risking everything

Financially, Twitter is not doing well. Even Elon Musk has admitted this several times. Still, for him, money isn’t everything that needs balancing on Twitter.

Shortly after his takeover of the short message portal, the previous Twitter chaos and Elon Musk’s sometimes radical views led to countless advertisers initially turning their backs on the site. The course on which Musk took his latest project was too uncertain. Musk confirmed the renegades in their departure by publicly pillorying some companies.

In the meantime, the situation has relaxed somewhat. The “BBCMusk said they’re about to break down financially and most advertisers have returned.

The financial “recovery” is no wonder: only 1,500 of the original 8,000 employees are left, and at many locations the company no longer pays rent and leaves unpaid bills. Even the headquarters were not spared from the austerity measures. Large parts of the interior were sold via auction, services such as caretaker service or building cleaning announced Twitter. There is literally not much left of the former glory.

Elon Musk does not want any interference in Twitter politics

The restrictions will probably continue to be necessary for Twitter to stay afloat. Because Musk will not welcome his advertisers with wide open arms in the future – even if he actually depends on it. Before the purchase, advertising made up around 90 percent of Twitter’s revenue. It would be surprising if the blue tick program “Blue” could take any appreciable share of this.

But when it comes to advertisers’ concerns that Twitter could be too radical, the tech billionaire is playing with open cards. Speaking to Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s chair of global advertising and partnerships, he said loudly, “Wall Street Journal“: “It’s perfectly fine to say that you want your ads to appear in certain places on Twitter and not in others. But it’s not okay to say what Twitter should do. And if that means losing advertising dollars, then we lose them. But freedom of speech comes first.”

Musk communicated from the start that he wanted to make Twitter a “freedom of speech marketplace” that also offers space for “uncomfortable” opinions. What is meant by this is above all so-called hate speech, which was kept in check by a large moderation team before it was taken over, but can now be spread relatively undisturbed.

Musk explains his goal: “We’re trying to find a reasonable middle ground here, so we’re trying to accomplish a number of things, which is making sure the public has their voice, but also making sure advertisers are able to protect their brands to serve and improve the perception of their brands, as well as their sales.”

For many former customers who, according to the Wall Street Journal, have not returned, the argument is probably not enough. According to this, 37 of the former 100 top customers have not paid a cent since the acquisition of Musk. Another 24 would have cut their spending by at least 80 percent.

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It doesn’t help much that Musk declared that he would not delete hate speech in the future either. His policy remains “freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach”. This means that while you can say anything on Twitter, there is no guarantee that someone will read it. Or to put it another way: instead of deleting content, it is made virtually invisible on the platform. They can still be found. According to Musk, this also corresponds to the rest of the Internet.

Governments insist on moderation

In doing so, he forgets that as the operator of a platform like Twitter, he is responsible for what is found there in many countries. In fact, certain content is simply illegal, so it must be removed. Quite a few governments, including the EU, insist on the rapid removal of potentially illegal contributions. The penalties for knowing violations can be very high – in the EU up to six percent of the annual turnover.

Against this background, it will continue to be a balancing act in the future to reconcile declining income and accumulated costs. While some advertisers tend to avoid the shaky Twitter terrain, there are countless lawsuits from dismissed employees and claims from creditors whose bills Twitter has ignored or postponed.

Only Musk himself knows how to turn this into a thriving company for free spirits of all kinds. In any case, his goal of operating a profitable opinion marketplace is exposed to many dangers – whether financial or regulatory.

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