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Elon Musk under scrutiny from Twitter users and World Federation of Advertisers
Elon Musk fired the Board of Directors Monday, as a small group of protestors outside Twitter headquarters and an open letter from the biggest advertising association in the world is showing the scrutiny on Musk as he tries to steer Twitter through the transition.
SAN FRANCISCO - Elon Musk fired the Board of Directors Monday, as a small group of protestors outside Twitter headquarters and an open letter from the biggest advertising association in the world is showing the scrutiny on Musk as he tries to steer Twitter through the transition.
In response to Musk's entrance last week carrying a sink into Twitter's San Francisco headquarters, a small group of protestors brought quite a different plumbing fixture to the Twitter building on Market Street.
"Flush Musk, dump Trump," said the three men in rainbow attire who stood next to a toilet seat bearing photos of Musk and Trump.
The men said they're concerned that Musk will reopen the platform to Donald Trump and others who were banned for spreading misinformation and hateful speech.
"I have a few friends around the world who have deleted their accounts. They want nothing to do with Twitter because Musk has taken control," said Michael Petrelis, a San Francisco resident and gay rights activist, "For myself, because Twitter is such an effective tool to build solidarity with gay people globally, I'm staying on Twitter."
Musk on Monday posted "If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if Trump is coming back on this platform, Twitter would be minting money," giving no other details.
Musk acquired the social media platform for $44 billion dollars, which has left him trying to figure out now what to do with Twitter's business model and revenue streams.
On Monday, Musk fired Twitter's Board of Directors according to SEC filings.
On his Twitter account he said, "This is just temporary." without giving details.
General Motors has announced publicly it has paused advertising with the platform.
"Advertisers will pull back and they will look and they will listen to see the tone and tenor of the conversation and then determine whether it's right to go back in," said Rob Rakowitz, Co-Founder of GARM, the Global Alliance for Responsible Media. GARM represents the interests of the World Federation of Advertisers, a global association that includes top international brands as well as thousands of smaller companies.
Rakowitz says there are other companies that have privately scaled back to take a wait-and-see approach. He says that often happens with risk-averse companies with potentially controversial transitions.
GARM published an open letter to Musk, calling for him to adhere to their standards for keeping digital media a safe space for customers and advertisers.
"Digital media safety is serious and brand safety and the advances that we've made, they're non-negotiable for advertisers," said Rakowitz.
Rakowitz says GARM and advertisers are going to be watching Musk's moves carefully and the impact of any staff cuts on the platform's content.
"Technology is very good and can detect things like nudity. Then going into hate speech it goes a little bit down, but then going into something extremely nuanced like cyberbullying and harassment, that takes a lot of nuance and understand which usually takes human review," said Rakowitz.
The public is watching and weighing in too.
"I don't feel like he bought it for the right reasons. I don't think he's going to do what is best for the user base and society at large. I think he bought it for selfish reasons, and I'm not excited about the future of the platform," said Eric Whitthouse, who works in San Francisco.
"It is concerning but that's everywhere," said Shiela Santos, San Francisco, "If it does change, I hope it's for the better."