The absolute meltdown on the Left of Elon Musk buying Twitter — even months before he actually took ownership — goes to show one thing: They thought Twitter was “their” platform plagued by a handful of “Nazis” and conspiracy theorists who were trying to make their platform unsafe for the marginalized. Now that Musk is letting his foot off of the censorship pedal and letting conservatives have their say (The Babylon Bee is back! Donald Trump is back, but not Tweeting!), they’re all scattering for “politically neutral” sites like Mastodon, where they’re setting up their bubbles.
NPR has done a story on Twitter losing some of its top advertisers since Musk took over. Boy, did these cowards fold:
Half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers appear to no longer be advertising on the website. A report from Media Matters for America states that these 50 advertisers have spent almost $2 billion on Twitter ads since 2020 and more than $750 million just in 2022.
Seven additional advertisers have slowed their advertising to almost nothing, according to the report, which was published on Tuesday. These companies have paid Twitter more than $255 million since 2020.
Chevrolet, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., Ford, Jeep, Kyndryl, Merck & Co. and Novartis AG all issued statements about halting Twitter ads or were reported and confirmed as doing so. The others ceased advertising on the platform for a “significant period of time following direct outreach, controversies, and warnings from media buyers.”
It took NPR two sentences to start repeating talking points from Media Matters, which you’ll notice, of course, that they don’t disclose as a left-wing site.
Is this too part of Twitter’s death spiral? First, all of the snowflakes quitting, and now the advertisers leaving? Law professor Jonathan Turley notes, as we said above, that Twitter before Musk was considered “neutral,” kind of like how CNN sees itself as neutral.
For those in support of the restoration of free speech protections on Twitter, here are some of the companies pulling their ads in protest. Chevrolet, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., Ford, Jeep, Kyndryl, Merck & Co. and Novartis AG. https://t.co/mpz3jDRsd2 …
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) November 25, 2022
…These companies were fine with Twitter censoring free speech and blocking stories like the Hunter Biden laptop scandal before the election. They were fine with barring medical experts who were later proven to have valid concerns on Covid…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) November 25, 2022
However, Chevrolet, Chipotle,, Ford, Jeep, Kyndryl, Merck, Novartis etc cannot abide the removal of one of the world's largest and most notorious censorship systems. Of course, free speech includes the freedom not to support companies that do not support your free speech.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) November 25, 2022
…If these companies had problems with the prior censorship system, the barring of stories like the Biden laptop, or barring dissenting views, it apparently was not sufficient to cause them to pull advertising…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) November 26, 2022
It’s really impossible to state the level of scandal involved in censoring and suppressing the Hunter Biden story. Since we’re speaking of NPR, remember how they issued a statement saying they weren’t going to cover it and “waste people’s time”?
…The departure of these companies has followed a campaign from figures long opposed to free speech principles on social media. https://t.co/XlcVb2Pnb0 …
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) November 26, 2022
…The implication of the NPR story is that these companies are pulling their support in light of Musk's effort to remove censorship rules or reinstating barred accounts. If they pulled their support for another reason, they should state so.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) November 26, 2022
…For example, Chipotle issued a statement that it is pulling support to “gain a better understanding on the direction of the platform under its new leadership." https://t.co/iZxjQAWheY…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) November 26, 2022
The child porn was fine. It's the free speech they're worried about.
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) November 26, 2022
Can't help but notice it's a lot of car brands … wonder if this is more about his Tesla brand and looking to hurt him in general than it is free speech. That being said, this seems like a really stupid move if they want to sell cars.
— 🐥The🐰FOO🌸 (@PolitiBunny) November 26, 2022
So many drug companies???🤔
— CGallMD (@GallaherCaren) November 26, 2022
Well, I certainly don’t need to purchase their products.
— TheRifleman (@TheRifleman11) November 25, 2022
I was considering buying a @Jeep vehicle in the coming months. Just lost that sale. Censorship is not cool. Pull your heads out of your woke backsides.
— Joe (@JoeC1776) November 26, 2022
As a @Ford owner, I am ashamed of my favorite car company. I remember when they proudly refused to accept government bailouts when GM did. Now it looks like they've gone woke like the rest of the corporate cowards.
— @Malvenue (@Malvenue) November 25, 2022
They refused then, now they are swimming on Biden's corporate welfare. Just noticed how many times he went to "visit" Ford.
— @iamback0526 (@iamback0526) November 26, 2022
I intend to boycott the companies that withdrew from Twitter. Folks, boycotting is not hard. There are plenty of substitutes for the goods one is boycotting. I think having something other than Chipotle for lunch is an easy decision.
— The New Number Two (@TheNewNumberTw2) November 26, 2022
Thanks for the list, happy to boycott their products.
— hoos.crypto ☯️ (@husseinb) November 26, 2022
Again, as noted above, all of these companies were fine with the way Twitter was before — that was “normal.” We haven’t even seen any really big changes in Twitter yet, but a lot of these companies say they’re “waiting” to see how things shake out with Musk.
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Related:
Glenn Greenwald thread torpedoes media’s ‘lives at risk’ hyperventilating over Musk and Twitter https://t.co/1TF2OLN7Cg
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 25, 2022
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