Credit: Times Of Israel
Elon Musk has his work cut out as Apple has reportedly paused all ads on X. Citing sources, Axiois reports that the tech giant is putting all ads on Twitter on temporary hold after Elon Musk backs antisemitic posts on the platform.
Apple has now stopped running ads on X, joining a few other advertisers that have already done so, such as IBM and the European Commission.
X has not been able to control hate speech that propagates antisemitic ideas and extols Adolf Hitler on its platform.
164 Jewish rabbis and activists stepped up their call to Apple, Disney, and Amazon to stop advertising on X after Elon Musk endorsed an antisemitic post on Wednesday.
Musk’s endorsement attracted widespread reactions from several high quarters, including the White House.
“It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of Antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement per Axios.
On Thursday, X CEO Linda Yaccarino said:
“X’s point of view has always been very clear that discrimination by everyone should STOP across the board — I think that’s something we can and should all agree on. When it comes to this platform — X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There’s no place for it anywhere in the world — it’s ugly and wrong. Full stop.”
Shortly after Elon Musk completed the takeover of Twitter in 2022, a couple of American tech giants temporarily paused ads on the platform. General Motors and a couple of other companies wanted Twitter to show clarity as to the direction it was heading in at the time.
“We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership,” the company said in an emailed statement to TechCrunch. “As is normal course of business with a significant change in a media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising. Our customer care interactions on Twitter will continue.”
How long Apple and other ad partners will stay away from the X platform is unclear, though. Naturally, Twitter’s revenue will be impacted by this decision.
