Elon Musk walks back ‘go f yourself’ comments to X advertisers – Quartz

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Elon Musk attempted to temper his infamous go f yourself comments to X advertisers on Wednesday as he tries to win back companies fleeing the platform.

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Musk, who leveled the expletive last year at corporations he claimed were trying to censor and blackmail him with advertising deals, struck a different tone in his comments at the Cannes Lions advertising festival in France. The CEO insisted his F you to advertisers wasnt meant to be taken so generally.

It wasnt to advertisers as a whole, Musk said, according to CNBC. It was with respect to freedom of speech, I think it is important to have a global free speech platform, where people from a wider range of opinions can voice their views.

The X boss claimed that some companies demanded he censor certain groups on the platform in exchange for their ad money.

At the end of the day if we have to make a choice between censorship and losing money, [or] censorship and money, or free speech and losing money, were going to choose the second, he said, CNBC reports. Were going to support free speech rather than agree to be censored for money which I think is the right moral decision.

Musks commitment to free speech on the platform has come under significant fire, with many groups saying it has been a false justification to allow hate to flourish on the platform. The White House chastised Musk in November for supporting antisemitic and racist hate after he agreed with a post claiming that Jewish communities were encouraging hatred of whites. He later apologized for the comments.

Musk said Wednesday that advertisers have a right to appear next to content they find compatible with their brands, but added that it is not cool when they demand that there can be no content that they disagree with on the platforms.

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Elon Musk walks back 'go f yourself' comments to X advertisers - Quartz