The new content moderation policy at X (formerly Twitter), has made it difficult to convince advertisers that the platform is safe for their ads, according to the company’s former head of brand safety and ad quality.
AJ Brown, who left X in June, said that the new policy, which limits the visibility of tweets that violate the platform’s policies rather than removing them altogether, has made it difficult for advertisers to understand where their ads will be seen.
“Helping people wrap their minds around the concept that violating a policy would no longer result in the removal of whatever was violating the policy, was a difficult message to communicate to people,” Brown said.
Musk has said that the new policy is necessary to protect free speech, but advertisers are concerned that it will lead to an increase in harmful content on the platform.
As a result, ad revenue at X has declined significantly since Musk took over the company. In May, Musk said that U.S. ad revenue had fallen by 60 per cent.
Brown said that he believes X will need to make significant changes to its content moderation policy if it wants to attract back advertisers.
“I think they need to find a way to strike a balance between free speech and ensuring that the platform is safe for advertisers,” he said.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.