The largest automaker in the United States has stopped paid advertising from Twitter following Elon Musk’s purchase of the social media business.
Elon Musk’s $44 billion (£38 billion) purchase of Twitter was completed on Thursday, and he reportedly fired the company’s CEO and two other top executives.
Before announcing the formation of the content moderation panel on Friday, the world’s richest man tweeted “the bird is freed” and “let the good times roll.”
GM Motors Co said in a statement late Friday that it has temporarily paused sponsored ads on the platform as a “regular course of business” following a substantial change in a media platform.
The Detroit manufacturer stated that it is “working with Twitter to understand the trajectory of the platform under their new ownership,” and that “customer care interactions on Twitter will continue.”
In the second quarter, ad sales accounted for more than 90% of Twitter’s revenue.
At a May presentation, some ad agencies and businesses expressed skepticism and fear about Twitter’s future.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has described himself as a “free-speech absolutist,” and in an open-letter tweet on the eve of the deal’s closure, he appealed directly to advertisers.
“Twitter definitely cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!” he stated. “Twitter strives to be the world’s most respected advertising platform, strengthening your brand and growing your organization.”
Elon Musk then tweeted on Friday that the social media site would form a moderation committee “with broadly different opinions” and that “no major content decisions or account reinstatements” would be made until the council met.
In a later tweet, he stated that the firm has “not yet” changed its content control standards.
Musk has stated that he will improve the service by removing fraudulent accounts and making it a place where a “variety of opinions may be argued in a healthy manner.”
Donald Trump, undoubtedly Twitter’s most famous user, is among those whose accounts may be reinstated.
After the siege on the US Capitol in January 2021, the former president was barred for allegedly encouraging violence with two of his posts.
Elon Musk, on the other hand, labeled the prohibition a “mistake” and “morally wrong” earlier this year.
Elon Musk completed his purchase of Twitter a day before the deadline of October 28 in order to avoid the agreement going to court. After Musk backed out in July over the number of false and spam accounts, the business took legal action to compel the agreement through.
Musk earlier this week released a weird video of himself entering Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters carrying a sink with the message: “Entering Twitter HQ – let it sink in.”
Musk, who has changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit,” claimed on Thursday that he bought the social media platform “to try to serve humanity, whom I adore.”
