As Twitter’s ability to moderate hate speech suffers, advertisers are fleeing the platform and hurting the company’s bottom line
Twitter’s advertising revenue fell almost 60% throughout April and early May from a year ago, and the company regularly fails to meet weekly sales projections by roughly 30 per cent, according to the New York Times.
That equates to losses of almost US$90 million over that time.
Advertisers, the primary source of income for the platform, are fleeing Twitter amid a marked rise in hate speech on the platform.
Elon Musk bought the company for US$44 billion in October 2022, and immediately started cutting staff in content moderation and other roles as a means to reduce overheads.
The tech billionaire, who describes himself as a “free-speech absolutist”, has said in recent months that the company is on the way up.
He may have other things on his mind, however.
Musk has recently agreed to hold a caged fighting match with fellow tech billionaire and Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg.
The pair recently began exchanging plans for the fight, which, if all goes to plan, will be held in an octagon in Las Vegas.
