Elon Musk apologizes for antisemitic tweet but crudely attacks advertisers
ABC NewsNov 30, 2023
X CEO Says Platform Added 10M Users in December
The Facts
Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X, formerly Twitter, announced Thursday that the platform has gained 10M new users this month. This comes after X's owner, Elon Musk, said in July that the company, which doesn't regularly release its data, had 540M monthly users.
However, Yaccarino's announcement lacked any specific comparisons to the platform's typical monthly growth or how many of these new users were paying subscriptions. This comes amid an advertising boycott on X joined by companies including Apple, Disney, IBM, and Lions Gate Entertainment.
The Spin
Narrative A
Musk was absolutely right when he called his recent Tweet a massive mistake. Not only did he push antisemitic propaganda to his millions of followers, but he gave even more advertisers a reason to stop spending on his financially depleting company. X has already lost 50% of advertising revenue since the billionaire acquired the company last year, and now he's losing the select few who still stood with him.
Narrative B
No one can deny X's financial troubles, but that doesn't mean the platform is doomed. Whether you agree with him or not, Musk is a fighter for free speech. Even regarding his recent controversial post, billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who has led the fight against antisemitism on college campuses, called out the hypocrisy of other social media companies not facing boycotts despite displaying similar content on their respective platforms.
Nerd narrative
There is a 5% chance that Twitter's net income will be higher in 2023 than in 2022, according to the Metaculus prediction community.