Twitter's new boss, Elon Musk, has threatened to identify and humiliate advertisers who boycott Twitter. Musk tweeted that after he bought Twitter, the platform’s revenue fell sharply as activist groups pressured advertisers to stop buying ads.
A Twitter user named Mike Davis responded to Musk's tweet, offering him: "You have nearly 114 million followers on Twitter to name and shame those who succumb to ad boycotts. advertisers, so we can counter-boycott them. Start the $8 per month subscription service plan as soon as possible so we can start making up lost revenue now.”
To this, Musk responded: " Thanks, if this continues, thermonuclear naming and shaming will be a possibility. "
Twitter relies on advertising for more than 90% of its revenue, although that may change under Musk. Musk has started charging users $8 a month to help them verify the status of their accounts.
Musk last week completed a $44 billion takeover of Twitter, promising to restore "freedom of speech" by providing a "digital town square" where debate can be made. However, dozens of groups called on Twitter advertisers to stop advertising on the platform, claiming that Musk's proposed changes would allow Twitter to post "harmful content" that would become a "direct threat to public safety."
In order to maintain Twitter's financial operations, Musk announced that he would lay off half of Twitter's 7,500 employees. He claims that before he took over Twitter, the company was losing money. "Unfortunately, with Twitter layoffs, when the company is losing more than $4 million a day, we have no choice," Musk said.
Musk remains the richest person in the world today, with a net worth estimated by Forbes magazine at more than $208 billion.