--- title: "Elon Musk Melts Down as Advertisers Flee Twitter Chaos" description: "Advertisers are running for the hills, now that Elon Musk has taken over Twitter — and the billionaire is clearly pissed about the sudden drop in revenue." date: "2022-11-04" modified: "2022-11-04" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-melts-down-advertisers-twitter-chaos" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "twitter" --- # Elon Musk Melts Down as Advertisers Flee Twitter Chaos ![Advertisers are running for the hills, now that Elon Musk has taken over Twitter — and the billionaire is clearly pissed about the sudden drop in revenue.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* Advertisers [ranging from General Mills to Audi]() are [running for the hills]() now that noted rocket and electric car guy Elon Musk has taken over Twitter — and the billionaire is clearly none too pleased about the sudden drop in revenue. But Musk has already found a new scapegoat: activists. "Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation, and we did everything we could to appease the activists," Musk [tweeted]() on Friday. "Extremely messed up!" he added. "They’re trying to destroy free speech in America." In short, it's exactly the kind of rhetoric far-right that conspiracy theorists and conservative pundits have used in the past, and which we've now — strangely — come to expect from the richest man in the world. Case in point, earlier this week, Musk [polled]() his more than 100 million followers about a ridiculous false dichotomy: whether advertisers should support "freedom of speech" or "political correctness." Are we getting a glimpse of what content moderation and efforts to reign in hate speech will soon look like on Musk's Twitter? Coincidentally, Musk already [fired the company's content moderation chief](), and has reportedly laid off the company's [entire curation team]() as well today. Needless to say, blaming "activists" for a drop in revenue is a misguided attempt to distract from a much simpler truth: advertisers weren't seeing returns before Musk even took over, and will now have to protect their clients from being associated with a brash figure like Musk. "Welcome to hell," *The Verge*'s editor-in-chief Nilay Patel [wrote]() in reply to Musk, referring to his recently published [essay]() on the thanklessly difficult task facing anyone running the site. "Imagine misunderstanding things this badly when a huge chunk of your fortune (and legacy) depends on accurately understanding something fairly straightforward," *TechDirt*'s Mike Masnick wrote. "It ain't because of activists, buddy." Yet again, Musk's rash behavior and problematic rhetoric is only fanning the flames. And his latest attack on progressive groups is unlikely to appease advertisers, who were already looking for a way out. The future of Twitter hangs in the balance and the last week and a half — which, in many ways has felt like an eternity — has led the platform into an apparent nosedive. Advertisers are clearly ratcheting up the pressure, while Musk is desperately trying to find new ways to bring in some much-needed cash. But chances are the fallout from his misguided tweets won't end up phasing him much. "Being attacked by both right and left simultaneously is a good sign," he [wrote]() on Thursday. **More on the saga:** *[Elon Musk Meeting With Advertisers, Begging Them Not to Leave Twitter]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()