X owner Elon Musk said his infamous “Go f–k yourself” comment last year was not aimed at all advertisers as his social media company tries to woo back companies that have left the site.
“First of all, it wasn’t to advertisers as a whole. It was with respect to freedom of speech,” Musk told a gathering of advertising professionals at the Cannes Lions conference in France on Wednesday.
The mogul added it was “important to have a global free speech platform where people with a wide range of opinions can voice their views,” according to Axios, which first reported comments.
Musk said he lashed out at a conference in New York last fall because there were “some cases [where] there were advertisers who were insisting on censorship.”
“We’re going to support free speech rather than agree to be censored for money,” he said.
While Musk acknowledged that “of course, advertisers have a right to appear next to content that they find compatible with their brands,” he admonished companies for “insisting that there can be no content they disagree with on the platform.”
In November, Musk made headlines when he appeared at the DealBook Summit in New York during which he was asked about advertisers who fled X in response to his revamped content moderation policies that were implemented after he acquired the company then known as Twitter two years ago.
“Go f–k yourself,” Musk railed as Disney CEO Bob Iger sat in the audience.
Disney was one of several blue-chip companies that halted advertising on X in response to reports that the site was failing to adequately crack down on a proliferation of hate speech, including antisemitic content.
The exodus of advertisers has had an adverse impact on the company’s balance sheet.
Internal leaks revealed that X’s revenue has nosedived since Musk took control of the company.
In the first six months of 2023, X’s revenue stood at $1.48 billion — which is around 40% less compared to the same period last year.
X also lost $456 million in the first quarter of last year, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg News.
The news site reported in December that X was on pace to generate $3.4 billion in revenue for 2023.
By comparison, the company generated $4.4 billion in revenue in 2022.
Musk acquired the firm then known as Twitter in October of that year.
Musk, who owns around 75% of X’s parent company, X Holdings Corp, wants to turn X into an “everything” app that will incorporate peer-to-peer payments – similar to Venmo.
According to Bloomberg, X has filed paperwork in all 50 states seeking licenses to become a money transmitter.
So far, 28 states have approved the permits, according to Bloomberg.
The Post has sought comment from X.
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