After Elon Musk explicitly said "fuck you" to advertisers leaving X during an interview at the New York Times DealBook Summit yesterday, X CEO Linda Yaccarino publicly backed Musk.
Musk has endorsed anti-Semitic content on the platform in recent days, as well as other conspiracy theories such as the debunked "Pizzagate," and he has threatened to sue Media Matters, the Center for Countering Digital Hate and the Anti-Defamation League, claiming their coverage scared advertisers off the platform.
In an interview yesterday, Musk apologized for his recent behavior, saying that he "handed a loaded gun to those who hate me" and said he was "very sorry." Later, he also referred to his anti-Semitic posts as "one of the dumbest things I've ever done on the platform."
His X post, coupled with reports that advertiser content appeared next to hate speech, including anti-Semitic content, led to a large exodus of advertisers, including Apple, Disney, Comcast, IBM and other major brands leaving the platform. Paris Hilton's 11:11 Media deal with X, in which the celebrity and influencer would promote X's features, including live video, audio and e-commerce opportunities for brands, has also been cancelled.
Although most of X's revenue still comes from advertising - which is why Musk hired a former NBCU advertising executive as X CEO - the Telsa and SpaceX executive still impulsively posts outrageous content on the platform, most recently endorsing an anti-Semitic post in a reply. This behavior also upsets brands as they don’t want their ads to come close to hate speech.
While X had promised advertisers that the new system would allow them to choose their own level of brand safety, a new report from MediaMatters points out that the technology is far from foolproof. The report found that it's easy to have ads appear next to hateful and toxic content. Now it appears that X's owners are getting involved in more and more controversial content themselves.
Although it seemed like Jacarino would face the awkward position of having to settle with advertisers, she backed Musk's statement on X. In a post on the platform, she wrote:
Today @elonmusk sat down for a wide-ranging and candid interview on @dealbook2023. He also provided an apology, explanation and clarity on our position. X achieves information independence, which makes some people uncomfortable. We are a platform that allows people to make their own decisions. Here’s my take on the ad: X stands at a unique and wonderful intersection between free speech and the streets. The X community is strong and we welcome you. Thank you to our partners who believe our work is meaningful.
Her comments effectively endorsed Musk's position that advertisers who feel uncomfortable with X's "free speech" positioning don't deserve to come to X. It’s simply wrong to say this for companies whose top priority is brand safety, who don’t want to pick sides in an ideological war over moderation (or lack thereof) of online speech and X.
It also changed the way she responded to Musk's posts in the past. After the MediaMatters report broke, Jacarino responded by promoting X's "efforts to combat anti-Semitism and discrimination" in an internal memo to employees. When Musk endorsed an anti-Semitic post as "the real truth," she didn't comment directly, but continued to post other news about X in her feed - such as the growth of Community Notes, or the increase in X usage data caused by the dramatic OpenAI incident on X.
But now Musk has backed her into a corner. Musk told advertisers to get lost, and she could either agree with Musk or get lost—and resign as CEO of X. Despite reports that many of her colleagues in the advertising industry are pressuring her to choose the latter, for better or worse, Jacarino will need to work extra hard to maintain that balance.