Left-wing groups call on advertisers to boycott Twitter unless Elon Musk commits to censorship

A  coalition of left-wing organizations has reached out to Twitter's top advertisers, urging them to boycott the platform unless new owner Elon Musk commits to enforcing the company's existing content moderation guidelines.

"We, the undersigned organizations, call on you to notify Musk and publicly commit that you will cease all advertising on Twitter globally if he follows through on his plans to undermine brand safety and community standards, including gutting content moderation," the group wrote in its letter to the platform's top advertisers, per The Hill. "This means that Musk must not roll back the basic moderation practices Twitter already has on the books now and must commit to actually enforcing those rules."

Consisting of prominent activist organizations such as the NAACP, the Center for American Progress, GLAAD, and the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, the coalition warned that Musk's proposed rollback of Twitter's content moderation would make the platform dangerous.

"If Elon Musk follows through with just a fraction of what he has already committed to doing, then Twitter will not and can not be a safe platform for brands. Urgent action is needed by advertisers," they wrote.

Twitter's top 20 advertising partners received the letter, including Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Google and Disney, the outlet reported. The groups warned that Musk would attempt to assuage their concerns but noted that the advertisers were the only entities able to stop the changes at the company. 

"Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter came with his promise to advertisers like you that the social network would not transform into a 'free-for-all hellscape' and would remain 'warm and welcoming to all.' But beware: Musk's promises in no way accurately portray his plans for Twitter, nor are they a reflection of the evolving reality of the platform as it transforms by the minute under Musk," they wrote.

Musk took over Twitter last week and has since vowed to create a content moderation council to review decisions on censorship and account suspensions. He previously promised to reinstate former President Donald Trump and to curtail the company's censorship practices.

That change already appears to have born some fruit as Twitter recently removed a flag on a Just the News story about a ballot harvesting scheme in Florida following a direct appeal to Musk.