Elon Musk sought to quell concerns from advertisers that Twitter under his leadership may not be a safe place for brand marketing, admitting that the platform should remove or hide hate speech and other objectionable posts.
“It stands to reason that if someone is advertising that they don’t want super negative information next to their ad, or content that might be inappropriate,” Musk acknowledged in a Spaces Twitter call out live on the site. “So we’re going to work hard to make sure there’s no bad stuff next to an ad that really doesn’t do anyone any good.”
Musk spoke in a public chat that reached more than 114,000 listeners, including a number of official brand accounts such as Target, Pandora, Chipotle and Chevron. The service has seen a number of big brands freeze ad spending in recent weeks since Musk bought Twitter Inc. and took it private on October 27.
The billionaire, who runs the platform and calls himself “Chief Twit”, has been open about his plans to bring back “free speech” to Twitter, and many are worried it will mean repealing a number of policies that keep other types of posts of hate and racism outside the service.
“I don’t think having hate speech next to an ad is great, of course,” Musk said.
David Cohen, chief executive of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, was the only non-Twitter employee who was able to question Musk during the Spaces appearance. Cohen asked how marketers should think about Musk’s personal brand, which can be awkward and controversial, and how it blurs with Twitter’s corporate image.
“Obviously, Twitter can’t just be an extension of me, because then anyone who disagrees with me will be pushed,” he said. “So, Twitter should be, as a platform, as neutral as possible. This does not mean that I am completely neutral. That would be untrue, I am not neutral. No person is.”
The roughly 45-minute long conversation was wide-ranging, with Musk addressing a number of other aspects of the service, including his plans for an $8-a-month subscription service and hopes to build more commerce on Twitter.
He said Twitter is also looking at ways to encourage people to link their bank or credit card accounts to the social network, perhaps even the idea of transferring money to the service and keeping it like a bank.
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