Musk, who cursed during X ad suspension, says "Advertisers have rights" to soothe tensions

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), who publicly cursed at companies that stopped advertising on X last year, has started to 'appease advertisers.'

According to US economic media CNBC on the 19th (local time), Musk attended the 'Cannes Lions' International Festival of Creativity held in Cannes, France, and had a public discussion with Mark Read, CEO of the advertising company WPP. At this event, CEO Read mentioned Musk's cursing directed at companies that decided to stop advertising on X in November last year and asked what it meant. Musk replied, "It was not directed at all advertisers."

He continued, "Advertisers have the right to place ads next to content they believe fits their brand," emphasizing, "X received high scores in brand safety based on objective evaluations."

He said, "In some cases, there were advertisers who demanded censorship," adding, "From the perspective of freedom of the press, I think it is important to have a global platform where people with diverse opinions can express their views." He then stated, "Ultimately, if we have to choose between censorship and losing money, we will choose the latter."

Last October, Musk posted support for claims containing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on X, and following this, major advertisers such as IBM, Apple, Walt Disney, and Walmart declared they would withdraw their ads from X. In November of the same year, Musk mentioned this during a public discussion and cursed.

According to Bloomberg, advertising revenue on X last year is estimated to have decreased by about 45% compared to 2021, before Musk acquired the platform.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.