between moderation and paid subscription, Elon Musk on one topic to get rid of advertisers – Liberation
But what happens“free speech absolutist” ? Since April, Elon Musk has been increasing his announcement effects on how he counts “let go” Twitter censorship. In the seven-month saga of his $44 billion takeover, the Tesla chief has raised the expectations of his supporters and the fears of his detractors. But a week after becoming the owner of the network, the billionaire’s head is confused. After announcing the establishment of a “moderation committee”, Now Elon Musk earns eight dollars a month from “freedom of speech” to get a verified account on the network.
The fly that stung Tesla’s boss is advertisers. While Elon Musk may have fired several executives from his company, he still has to play by the advertisers’ rules. Reason ? They provide 90% of Twitter’s revenue. The businessman’s cavalier speeches scared many of them off, the idea of seeing their ads rub shoulders with possible sexist, racist, transphobic messages wasn’t too keen… New York Times IPG, one of the world’s largest advertising groups, advised its clients this week to temporarily halt spending on Twitter. Tesla’s rival, General Motors, didn’t need to be asked, announcing on Saturday that “understand the direction of the platform under the new owner“.
So Elon Musk must be sure to prevent others from following the move. While trying not to betray his original promises. According to the man with a fortune of 224 billion dollars Forbes so he spent the week shaking hands with advertising executives and civil defense groups. The seduction operation he started on the eve of his official takeover of the network. In a statement to advertisers, He reiterated that he wanted to create the site “online public space”. However, he accepted that it should not become a platform “Hell is a place where everything can be said without any result.”
To do this, who is qualified as an entrepreneur“wrong” The expulsion of Donald Trump from the site – introduced an unprecedented measure after the takeover. In a tweet, he announced the creation of one “A Content Moderation Board of Diverse Views” responsible for investigating suspended accounts. “No major decision regarding the content or recovery of the accounts will be made before this board meeting.”he wrote.
But cuddle therapy sessions can’t last forever. Therefore, in the long term, Elon Musk has an opportunity to free himself from advertisers: change the economic model of Twitter by increasing the revenue share associated with “Twitter Blue”, the basic subscription is currently $ 4.99 per month. With revenue of $1.18 billion in the second quarter of 2022 — 28 times smaller than Meta — the company is struggling to generate cash through this formula. To overcome this, he announced the end of the bombastic multibillionaire “the present system of gentlemen and peasants” This meant that some – politicians, journalists, companies… – benefited from the certification by placing a blue mark next to their name. For this, he explained that it would be enough to pay after that to get a verified account, a guarantee of reliability and potential visibility.
For eight dollars a month (modulate the purchasing power of each country), so “everyone” will have a small blue tick on their profile. But at the same time, sharing long videos, dominating searches, comments… Elon Musk would have other projects of the same type in his boxes. According to Numbershe would also toy with the idea of allowing individual sales of tweets or sending private messages to a star for a few bucks.
revives discussions on the subject “free” Since then, the actions of the entrepreneur have been met with protest on social networks. Starting with US Democrat-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “The billionaire is seriously trying to sell people the idea that Free Speech is a subscription plan”, he tweeted. Before charging Elon Musk on Thursday “blocked” application after criticism. “It’s not so much ‘freedom of speech'”he is joking.
