X's new content moderation policy presented a significant challenge in convincing brands that the social media platform, owned by Elon Musk, was a safe space for advertising, according to the company's former head of brand safety and ad quality.
In April, X, formerly known as Twitter, introduced its "Freedom of Speech, Not Reach" policy. Under this policy, the platform began limiting the visibility of tweets that violated its policies instead of outright removal. This shift in approach made it difficult for advertisers to understand and adapt to the new policy.
AJ Brown, who recently resigned from the company in June, explained in his first interview after leaving that communicating the concept that policy violations would no longer result in immediate removal was a messaging challenge. Brands often struggled to grasp the idea that content that breached policies wouldn't be entirely removed.
Elon Musk, the CEO of X, has publicly revealed that the platform's U.S. ad revenue declined by 60%, attributing the slump to critics of the platform.
During his six-year tenure at Twitter, Brown built and led a team responsible for preventing ads from appearing alongside inappropriate content. He now serves as the chief operating officer at the Brand Safety Institute (BSI), an organization that offers certification and training for brand safety roles in the advertising industry.
One of Brown's goals at the BSI is to create an impartial forum where professionals in brand safety across various sectors of the advertising business can learn from each other. He emphasizes the importance of collaboration and knowledge-sharing among brands, agencies, and tech platforms.
Brown brings valuable experience from his time at X, which underwent a tumultuous transition under Musk's ownership. Musk had criticized the platform for limiting free speech and displaying political bias before acquiring it. Many advertisers hesitated to spend on Twitter due to concerns about their brands being associated with harmful content.
The moderation policy change only added to the hesitations and questions that advertisers had about resuming spending on the platform, according to Brown. Nonetheless, he felt supported in his brand safety work by Musk and the then-head of trust and safety at Twitter, Ella Irwin.
While at Twitter, Brown established partnerships with ad tech firms like DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science to provide third-party verification and create suitable ad placement tools for advertisers. These measures aimed to ensure that ads did not appear next to inappropriate content or posts containing specific keywords.
X's declining ad revenue has been a concerning issue, which Musk attributes to pressure from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Musk recently threatened to file a defamation lawsuit against the ADL to clear the platform's name regarding anti-Semitism. The ADL noted an increase in anti-Semitic content on the platform and a decrease in moderation since Musk's takeover.
However, the ADL's CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, dismissed Musk's threats as a distraction and emphasized that the organization would continue its work against anti-Semitism.
Musk's actions, including suing the Center for Countering Digital Hate over a critical report about X's content moderation, have only further damaged trust with advertisers. A major ad agency representative shared that their clients' spending on X has declined, as trust in the platform has waned.
In conclusion, X faces a challenging task of rebuilding trust with advertisers following its content moderation transition under Musk's ownership. The platform's declining ad revenue and controversies surrounding its moderation practices have left many advertisers skeptical and hesitant to invest in its advertising capabilities.