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X owner Elon Musk has reported that a significant number of advertisers have returned to the platform after a number of them said they were leaving the platform in response to one of Musk’s posts last month.
Musk was featured as a guest at the Atreju political festival in Rome, which was organized by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party. He was asked about the controversy that erupted last month, when Musk responded to a post that blamed “Jewish organizations” for backing anti-white sentiment.
Musk clarified that he was referring to the ADL, which lists “it’s OK to be white,” the “OK” hand sign, several numbers, “white lives matter” and dozens of additional symbols or statements as “hateful” or “racist” while demanding sharp consequences for antisemitism. Despite the clarification, a number of advertisers said they were leaving the platform due to allegations from Media Matters that X was serving ads next to racy content, which it has vowed not to do.
The company has disputed the allegations and filed a lawsuit against the far-left group in response.
“I think X will be fine. And we are actually already seeing advertisers return to X. So I guess they were, I don’t know, upset with something I said or something, I don’t know,” Musk said when asked about the boycott. “But they, you know, advertisers I think are, the brand advertisers are a little, they’re always worried about their brand and, you know, maybe, I think, maybe a bit more than they should be. But I think it’s a short-term issue.”
“Like I said, the advertisers, they sometimes get upset, but then they usually calm down and they return to advertising.”
Elsewhere in the discussion, Musk was asked about his commitment to free speech and how it drove his decision to purchase the company, then known as Twitter, in 2022. “Free speech is only meaningful if you allow people you don’t like to say things you don’t like. So, that’s how you know it’s working,” the tech mogul said.
“Because once you start to censor people you don’t like, saying things you don’t like, it’s only a matter of time before that censorship turns on you,” he continued.
Musk also stressed that the future of Western civilization depends on the right to free speech. “Profits don’t matter if civilization collapses,” he said of his decision to purchase Twitter.
