Elon Musk says activists want to "destroy free speech" as advertisers flee Twitter
CBSN
New Twitter owner Elon Musk said the company has seen a "massive drop" in revenue, blaming civil rights and other advocacy groups for scaring off advertisers as he moves fast to put his imprint on the social media platform.
Numerous advertisers have paused their spending on Twitter as the Tesla CEO makes sweeping changes at the company. Twitter employees on Friday started to receive layoff notice amid reports that Musk plans to cut about 3,700 jobs — roughly half of Twitter's workforce. The cuts include employees responsible for enforcing community standards and safety measures across the platform.
Previously, Musk has expressed his desire to make Twitter less reliant on advertising — possibly by charging an $8 monthly fee for verification — as well as to unleash "free speech" on the service and eliminate bots. But Musk tweeted Friday that "nothing has changed with content moderation" and said "we did everything we could to appease the activists," without specifying the groups he was alluding to.
