General Motors is suspending its advertising on Twitter, saying it needs time to evaluate the service’s new direction in the wake of Elon Musk’s purchase.
The Detroit automaker revealed its plans to CNBC on Friday, saying it was ‘pausing” advertising, but would continue its interaction with customers on the platform.
“We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership,” said a company statement. “As is normal course of business with a significant change in a media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising. Our customer care interactions on Twitter will continue.”
GM is a rival to Musk’s other company, Tesla, which makes electric vehicles. Ironically, Tesla itself does not do traditional advertising, but relies on various customer acquisition strategies, including using social media influencers.
Ford Motor Co. told CNBC that it was also evaluating the platform’s direction under Musk. Ford was not a current advertiser on Twitter and claimed it had not been an advertiser in the past. However, it had at least one promoted tweet, as CNBC pointed out.
Ford is also still engaging with customers on Twitter without paying.
Musk’s takeover of Twitter has prompted much hand-wringing and pearl-clutching among certain factions. The new owner has vowed to restore accounts previously banned from the service, and said that he would only take off spam, bots and other flotsam. The goal is to promote free speech on the platform, Musk has stated.
A “content moderation council” is planned by Musk, and he has said the service will not reinstate any accounts or make major content decisions before it is convened. Musk also tried to calm advertisers, saying earlier that Twitter under his guidance would not become a “free-for-all hellscape.”