X/Twitter’s political ad policy could affect elections around the world
Marketplace All-in-One
Marketplace
4.5 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 6 September 2023
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Then-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey banned them in 2019. Now, owner and Chair Elon Musk is officially bringing back political ads from parties and candidates to the company he renamed X, expanding its push into cause-based advertising. The move could boost revenue; some big brands have been less than eager to buy ads on the platform since Musk took over. X didn’t respond to a request for comment by the time of taping, but it has said it plans to expand its safety and elections team ahead of the 2024 elections in the United States. That, of course, would come after deep staff cuts. For analysis, Marketplace’s Lily Jamali had a chat with Jonathan Lemire, host of “Way Too Early” on MSNBC and the White House bureau chief at Politico, and Katie Harbath, a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Is X about to get even more political? |
| 0:04.8 | From American Public Media, this is Marketplace Tech. |
| 0:07.9 | I'm Lily Dremalli. |
| 0:18.9 | Then Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Bandham in 2019. |
| 0:22.9 | Now Elon Musk is officially bringing back political ads from candidates and parties to |
| 0:28.0 | what is now X, expanding the company's recent push into cause-based ads. |
| 0:33.9 | The move could help boost revenue, some big brands have been less than eager to buy ads |
| 0:38.1 | on the platform since Musk took over. |
| 0:40.9 | X didn't respond to our request for comment by the time of taping, but has said it plans |
| 0:45.4 | to expand its safety and elections team ahead of the 2024 election, this of course after |
| 0:50.7 | layoffs. |
| 0:52.0 | For analysis, we asked Jonathan Lamir, host of Way Too Early on MSNBC and White House |
| 0:57.3 | Bureau Chief at Political and Katie Harbath, a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, |
| 1:03.0 | who says the platform was never a place where candidates spent a lot of money, but that |
| 1:07.5 | could change. |
| 1:08.7 | We might see this as a way that candidates use to try to get some messages out, to try |
| 1:13.7 | to boost that, that could potentially lead to problematic activity. |
| 1:19.6 | I don't know if it will reach that potential. |
| 1:22.0 | It's too early to tell, but it's something definitely to keep an eye on. |
| 1:26.3 | Is this about Elon Musk trying to revive that lost ad revenue, or is this more about |
| 1:32.0 | politics and Musk's particular brand of politics? |
| 1:35.7 | I think the answer is both. |
... |
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