Elon Musk has called for an investigation into the groups that are calling on top advertisers, like Coca-Cola and Disney, to boycott Twitter if Musk supports free speech when the takes the reins.
As reported by CNN, earlier this week, more than 20 civil society groups sent letters to top brands asking them to boycott Twitter if Musk removes the current content moderation policies. These groups include Media Matters For America, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, and Women’s March.
“As top advertisers on Twitter, your brand risks association with a platform amplifying hate, extremism, health misinformation, and conspiracy theorists,” the letters state. “Under Musk’s management, Twitter risks becoming a cesspool of misinformation, with your brand attached, polluting our information ecosystem in a time where trust in institutions and news media is already at an all-time low. Your ad dollars can either fund Musk’s vanity project or hold him to account. We call on you to demand Musk uphold these basic standards of community trust and safety, and to pull your advertising spending from Twitter if they are not.”
In response to news of the letters, Musk tweeted: “Who funds these organizations that want to control your access to information? Let’s investigate.”
Last week, Musk said Twitter will be politically neutral, meaning both the far-right and far-left will be upset.
“Attacks are coming thick and fast, primarily from the left, which is no surprise, however I should be clear that the right will probably be a little unhappy too,” the billionaire said last week. “My goal is to maximize area under the curve of total human happiness, which means the 80% of people in the middle.”
In a separate tweet, he clarified: “For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally.”
