Elon Musk-owned social media company X could lose as much as $75 million in advertising revenue by the end of the year as dozens of significant brands pause their marketing campaigns, the New York Times reported on Friday. Musk backing an antisemitic post on the platform last week has led several companies, including Walt Disney (DIS.N) and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O), to pause their advertisements on the site formerly called Twitter.
The advertising freezes could hit X during its fourth quarter, the most lucrative three-month period for most social media companies, as they run major promotions through the platforms in anticipation of Black Friday and Christmas sales bonanzas. The company’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, sought to stem the advertiser exodus by claiming that brands are” protected from the risk of being next to toxic posts” and repeatedly writing that the firm stands against anti-Semitism.
But the number of advertisers who have paused or cut back on their spending is higher than X has previously indicated, according to internal papers seen by the New York Times. The documents outline over 200 ad units from companies like Airbnb, Amazon, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft that have paused or considered pausing ads on the site.
According to civil rights groups, X’s US ad revenue has declined by at least 55% since Musk bought it in October 2022 and reduced content moderation. The company has yet to disclose its financial results since then.
Advertisers have fled X because their ads appear to be placed next to pro-Nazi content and other hate speech. At the same time, billionaire owner Musk has inflamed tensions by amplifying antisemitic conspiracy theories on the platform. The company has also reduced its staff and disbanded a team of experts on trust and safety, making it harder for advertisers to know what their money supports.
A left-leaning group called Media Matters published a report on Thursday highlighting how ads from Apple, IBM, Oracle, and other big firms appeared next to Nazi and white nationalist content on the platform. A day later, the White House condemned the “horrific and inexcusable” spread of hateful rhetoric on X and said it was unacceptable that a month after the deadliest act of anti-Semitism in American history, X’s ad placements were still “appearing next to Nazi propaganda.”
X has sued the Media Matters nonprofit group and accused it of defamation. Still, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that his office would investigate Media Matters for potentially fraudulent activity. The lawsuits could lead to a lengthy legal battle and deprive the company of its most valuable asset: advertising revenues.