Linda Yaccarino, Twitter’s new CEO, has posted her first tweet following her appointment, saying she is “committed” to the company’s future even as many on the platform remain concerned that Yaccarino will seek to limit free speech.
“Thank you @elonmusk! I’ve long been inspired by your vision to create a brighter future. I’m excited to help bring this vision to Twitter and transform this business together,” Yaccarino said in a May 14 tweet. “I see I have some new followers. I’m not as prolific as @elonmusk (yet!), but I’m just as committed to the future of this platform. Your feedback is VITAL to that future. I’m here for all of it. Let’s keep the conversation going and build Twitter 2.0 together!”
According to tech billionaire Elon Musk, who acquired the platform last year, Yaccarino will “focus primarily on business operations while I focus on product design and new technology.” Yaccarino joined NBCUniversal back in 2011 where she oversaw a 2,000-member team. She left NBC for Twitter. Prior to NBC, she worked with Turner Broadcasting System for 15 years.
However, there has been significant backlash about Musk’s decision to appoint Yaccarino as Twitter CEO.
“She represents advertisers, and her natural inclination is to limit speech, and pander to those who push woke ideology on the world,” Billboard Chris, an advocate against gender ideology, said in a May 12 tweet. “You will have to watch her like a hawk.”
“She was also thrilled to spend $100,000,000 on social justice initiatives while at NBC, and forwarded government authoritarian propaganda that the way back to a normal life was to ‘wear your mask!’ No doubt she’ll bring in advertising revenue in the short term, but she’s a long-term mistake,” he said.
Musk replied to Chris’ tweet: “I hear your concerns, but don’t judge too early. I am adamant about defending free speech, even if it means losing money.”
Pro-Moderation
During a conversation between Musk and Yaccarino at an NBC event in April, Yaccarino pushed for more content moderation on the platform.
Yaccarino asked whether Twitter was open to a “feedback loop” from advertisers that would help them be more excited to invest more money. This would include allowing advertisers to provide feedback on “product development, ad safety, [and] content moderation.”
Musk dismissed the suggestion. “It’s totally cool to say that you want to have your advertising appear in certain places in Twitter and not in other places. But it is not cool to try to say what Twitter will do. And if that means losing advertising dollars, we lose it. But freedom of speech is paramount,” he stated.
Yaccarino then asked whether Musk planned on reinstating Twitter’s “influence council,” which involved regular meetings between the social media platform and marketing executives from its major advertisers.
“I would be worried about creating a backlash among the public,” Musk replied. “Because if the public thinks that their views are being determined by, you know, a small number of CMOs (chief marketing officers) in America, they will be, I think, upset about that.”
WEF Connections
According to Yaccarino’s Linkedin profile, she has been the executive chair of the World Economic Forum (WEF) since January 2019. The WEF has been criticized for pushing globalism on nations as well as promoting neoliberal economic policies. Many commentators insist that the organization seeks to control the world’s politics, economy, and media.
In November, WEF chair Klaus Schwab called the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is one of the worst human rights offenders in the world, a “role model” for other nations.
“I respect China’s achievements, which are tremendous over the last over 40 years, since the opening and reform policy came into action. I think it’s a role model for many countries,” Schwab told Chinese state-run network CGTN.
At the WEF, Yaccarino is a member of the organization’s Media, Entertainment, and Culture Industry Governors Steering Committee. The purpose of the committee is to “define the industry agenda and drive change” in media and entertainment to enable a “more informed, united and inclusive society.”
The committee governors comprise “chief executives and chairs from partner organizations” who “closely align the agenda with related System Initiatives.”
In 2017, the governors had identified three priority challenges, one of which was “the urgent need to restore content accountability in the media.” Another included “industry governance for artificial intelligence.”
Yaccarino’s LinkedIn profile also states that she is “highly engaged” with the WEF’s Value in Media initiative. The project looks at how large advertisers and technology can and should shape the media environment while also influencing online content.
