Updated on 04/11/2022 at 17:23 GMT: Elon Musk's tweet has now been flagged with "added context" that readers "thought people might want to know", citing several news articles with the description, "Reporting shows advertisers suspending or canceling ad buys over concerns with Twitter platform direction, especially as related to content moderation."
Elon Musk has owned Twitter for just over a week now, and already, it's seen "a massive drop in revenue" by his own admission. However, Musk blames this on "activist groups pressuring advertisers" and not paid verification badges, worries about hate speech amidst his "free speech" push, and mass lay-offs with no notice.
Twitter's own head of safety reported that there has been a "surge in hateful conduct" following Musk's takeover. The paid verification is also a concern as many users have voiced worries about accounts impersonating brands or people using the blue tick system to spread misinformation, something that is already a problem among unverified accounts. For instance, only earlier this year, someone pretending to be Nibel announced a Bloodborne remaster and PC port which the internet immediately believed.
Regardless, Musk stated that this is all due to left-wing activists, "Even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists. Extremely messed up! They're trying to destroy free speech in America."
Elon Musk has also spent the past eight days changing plans and sharing reposted memes dunking on critics, such as shifting from a $20 monthly fee for verification to $8, and then proceeding to compare it to buying a Starbucks. Meanwhile, employees are being kept in the dark, not being told they're getting laid off while losing IT access overnight.
This even sparked a suit against Twitter for not giving employees 60-day notice over their termination. This goes against California's WARN act, which certainly applies here as Elon Musk hasn't even owned Twitter for two weeks, let alone 60 days.