Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Elon Musk tells Twitter advertisers he wants to stop fake accounts, pursue truth

Elon Musk tells Twitter advertisers he wants to stop fake accounts, pursue truth

Twitter's new owner Elon Musk told advertisers on Wednesday he aimed to turn the social media platform into a force for truth and stop fake accounts in an effort to assuage brands and advertising agencies that have increasingly been backing away.
Days after Twitter rattled users and advertisers by cutting half its staff, over 100,000 listeners tuned in to hear Musk speak on Twitter's Spaces feature. He was joined by Yoel Roth, Twitter's head of safety and integrity, who has reassured users that Twitter would uphold its policies against harmful content.

Musk, the world's richest man, spoke calmly about his vision for Twitter, touting an $8 charge for premium subscriptions as a bot remedy and musing about the possibility of someday offering money market accounts.

In the week since Musk took over, GM, General Mills and Mondelez International Inc (MDLZ.O) have pulled ads off Twitter, concerned Musk could loosen content moderation rules. Major brands including Wendy's Co(WEN.O), Chick-fil-A, General Motors Co (GM.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N) monitored Musk's talk on Wednesday.

Musk blamed Twitter's "massive drop in revenue" on a coalition of civil rights groups that has ramped up pressure on advertisers, demanding they suspend ads globally after he laid off roughly half of the staff.

Directly addressing brands who have paused their ads, Musk said: "I understand if people want to give it a minute." But he added that "the best way to see how things are evolving is just use Twitter."

He said paid Twitter Blue subscription accounts with a blue checkmark would become more important and prominent, with users focusing on posts from verified users and ignoring other low quality content. The paid service would also discourage spammers, who would not want to pay for it, he added.

"There's a big difference between freedom of speech and freedom of reach," Musk said, adding that Twitter would aim to limit the visibility of hateful content.

Musk also responded to a question about his own tweets which have upset some advertisers, including one, now-deleted, that linked to a conspiracy theory about the attack on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, as well as a tweet that urged voters to choose Republican candidates in the U.S. midterm elections.

"Twitter must be as a platform as neutral as possible. That doesn't mean I'm completely neutral," he said.

Roth tweeted Wednesday that Twitter has reduced views of harmful content in search results by 95% compared to before Musk's acquisition.

"My observation of Twitter over the past few weeks is that the content is actually improving, not getting worse," Musk said. He told advertisers Twitter would move aggressively to suspend accounts that "engaged in trickery" or deception.

He also promised a faster evolution of the Twitter service, opening the possibility of allowing peer-to-peer payments, money market accounts and eventually a debit card.

Musk has already moved quickly to make changes in the Twitter app, creating some confusion. Musk said in a tweet on Wednesday that he "killed" a new "official" label for Twitter accounts, on the same day that it began rolling out.

A Twitter executive later clarifiedthat the platform would not give the official label to individuals, but it would still roll it out for government and commercial entities.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Unelected PM of the UK holds an emergency meeting because a candidate got voted in… which he says is a threat to democracy…
Farmers break through police barriers in Brussels.
Ukraine Arrests Father-Son Duo In Lockbit Cybercrime Bust
US Offers $15 Million For Info On Leaders Of Cybercrime Group Lockbit
Apple warns against drying iPhones with rice
Alexei Navalny: UK sanctions Russian prison chiefs after activist's death
German economy is in 'troubled waters' - ministry
In a recent High Court hearing, the U.S. argued that Julian Assange endangered lives by releasing classified information.
Tucker Carlson says Boris Johnson wants "a million dollars, in Bitcoin or cash, from Tucker Carlson to talk about Ukraine.
Russia is rebuilding capacity to destabilize European countries, new UK report warns
EU Commission wants anti-drone defenses at Brussels HQ
Von der Leyen’s 2nd-term pitch: More military might, less climate talk
EU Investigates TikTok for Child Safety Concerns
EU Launches Probe Into TikTok Over Child Protection Under Digital Content Law
EU and UK Announce Joint Effort on Migration
Ministers Confirm Proposal to Prohibit Mobile Phone Usage in English Schools
Avdiivka - Symbol Of Ukrainian Resistance Now In Control Of Russian Troops
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has died at the Arctic prison colony
Tucker Carlson grocery shopping in Russia. This is so interesting.
France and Germany Struggle to Align on European Defense Strategy
‘A lot higher than we expected’: Russian arms production worries Europe’s war planners
Greece Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage and Adoption Rights
Russia "Very Close" To Creating Cancer Vaccines, Says Vladimir Putin
Hungarian Foreign Minister: Europeans will lose Europe, the Union's policy must change drastically
Microsoft says it caught hackers from China, Russia and Iran using its AI tools
US Rejects Putin's Ceasefire Offer in Ukraine
The Dangers of Wildfire Smoke and Self-Protection Strategies
A Londoner has been arrested for expressing his Christian beliefs.
Chinese Women Favor AI Boyfriends Over Humans
Greece must address role in migrant vessel disaster that killed 600: Amnesty
Google pledges 25 million euros to boost AI skills in Europe
Hungarian President Katalin Novák Steps Down Amid Pardon Controversy
Activist crashes Hillary Clinton's speech, calls her a 'war criminal.'
In El Salvador, the 'Trump of Latin America' stuns the world with a speech slamming woke policing after winning a landslide election
Trudeau reacts to Putin's mention of Canadian Parliament applauding a former Ukrainian Nazi in his interview with Tucker Carlson.
The Spanish police blocked the farmers protest. So the farmers went out and moved the police car out of the way.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy fires top Ukraine army commander
Tucker Carlson's interview with Vladimir Putin raises EU concerns
Finnish Airline, Finnair, is voluntarily weighing passengers to better estimate flight cargo weight
Russia's Economy Expands by 3.6% Due to Increased Military Spending
Ukraine MPs Vote To Permit Use Of Dead Soldiers' Sperm
German Princess Becomes First Aristocrat To Pose Naked On Playboy Cover
UK’s King Charles III diagnosed with cancer
EU's Ursula von der Leyen Confronts Farmer Protests Amid Land Policy Debates
Distinguishing Between Harmful AI Media and Positive AI-Generated Content: A Crucial Challenge for the EU
Tucker Carlson explains why he interviewed Putin
Dutch farmers are still protesting in the Netherlands against the government, following the World Economic Forum's call for 'owning nothing.'
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stands up for European farmers and says, 'Brussels is suffocating European farmers.
×