General Motors temporarily halts paid advertising on Twitter following Elon Musk acquisition

General Motors said late Friday that it has temporarily suspended paid advertising on Twitter after Elon Musk completed his acquisition of the social media company.

The largest US automaker said it was “engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership.”

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Musk is also CEO of GM rival Tesla.

GM said that “as is the normal course of dealing with a significant change in media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising.” The Detroit automaker added that “customer care interactions on Twitter will continue.”

Ad sales accounted for more than 90 percent of Twitter’s revenue in the second quarter. At a presentation for advertisers in May, some ad agencies and brands were already skeptical and concerned about Twitter’s future.

Ahead of the deal closing, Musk appealed directly to advertisers in an open letter on Twitter: “Twitter clearly cannot become a free hellscape where anything can be said without consequence!…
Twitter strives to be the world’s most respected advertising platform that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise.”

Musk tweeted Friday that Twitter would form a content moderation board “with many different perspectives.” Musk said no major decisions about content or account recovery will be made before the council convenes.

The self-described “free speech absolutist” said in May he would lift Twitter’s ban on former US President Donald Trump, who was removed from the microblogging site in January last year over the risk of further inciting violence after the storm of the US Capitol.

The question of Trump’s reinstatement on the social media platform is seen as a litmus test of how far Musk will go in making changes, even though Trump himself has said he won’t be back.

© Thomson Reuters 2022