Since Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the social media platform has lost 50 of its top 100 advertisers.
Media Matters for America reported that the 50 advertisers who left had collectively spent almost $2 billion on Twitter ads since 2020 and more than $750 million just in 2022.
Among the top companies to announce their exit from Twitter are Chevrolet, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., Ford, Jeep, Kyndryl, Merck & Co., and Novartis AG.
According to MMA’s report, the advertisers left Twitter because Musk “continued his rash of brand unsafe actions — including amplifying conspiracy theories, unilaterally reinstating banned accounts such as that of former President Donald Trump, courting and engaging with far-right accounts, and instituting a haphazard verification scheme that allowed extremists and scammers to purchase a blue check.”
While Musk has not yet commented on this exact criticism put forward by MMA, he has explained in a tweet to Twitter advisers that he does not intend for the platform to become “a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences” and rather sees it as “a common digital town square.”
Indeed, on Thursday night, Musk said, the music artist Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, would be suspended from Twitter for posting an image featuring a swastika.
“He again violated our rule against incitement to violence,” Musk stated. “Account will be suspended.”
As for his new verification scheme, according to Musk, the initial reasoning behind making users pay to keep their verification is to help Twitter’s bottom line.
“Without significant subscription revenue, there is a good chance Twitter will not survive the upcoming economic downturn,” Musk wrote in an email to employees earlier this month.
While MMA criticizes the verification scheme as “haphazard,” Twitter claims that it has suspended many of these false verified accounts. “We will actively suspend accounts involved in deception or trickery of any kind,” Musk said. “It is a leveling of the playing field here. It will be less special, obviously, to have a check mark. But I think this is a good thing.” he stated.
Other verified and well-known users on Twitter were against the shift in the blue check verification process to a paid subscription. One such person was best-selling author Stephen King. King tweeted back in October, “$20 a month to keep my blue check? F**k that.”
Some of the concerns for big companies leaving Twitter came hot off the heels of the changes to the blue check verification process, as The Dallas Express previously reported. Once anyone could pay and get a blue check, an influx of false corporate company accounts were created that put out fake tweets about deals and products.
One was the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly & Co., which had a fake account get verified and tweet, “We are excited to announce insulin is free now.” The tweet garnered tons of likes, comments, and retweets. By the end of the day, the company’s stock had plummeted.
Twitter should be rolling out its updated paid verification process any day now.
According to Musk, the new check system will have gold checks for companies, grey checks for the government, and blue checks for individuals — no matter whether they are celebrities or not. Additionally, all accounts will be authenticated before the check is activated.
The successful relaunch of the blue check is all the more crucial since the loss of half of its top 100 advertisers.