Newly appointed Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino responded to Elon Musk’s announcement of her appointment.
Yaccarino, whose appointment has been met with contention by Twitter users, will assume her new position at Twitter in about 6 weeks, according to Musk.
“I’ve long been inspired by your vision to create a brighter future,” Yaccarino wrote in response to Musk’s announcement. “I’m excited to help bring this vision to Twitter and transform this business together.”
Yaccarino addressed an uptick in new followers after Musk’s announcement, saying she’s not as “prolific” as the tech billionaire, but was “just as committed to the future of this platform.”
“Your feedback is VITAL to that future,” she said. “Im here for all of it.”
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!
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) May 13, 2023
“Let’s keep the conversation going and build Twitter 2.0 together!”
Prior to Musk’s confirmation of Yaccarino, who has worked with NBCUniversal Media for 11 years, users criticized her history serving as Executive Chair in the World Economic Forum founded by Klaus Schwab in 1971.
During her time with NBCUniversal, Yaccarino served as the chairman of global advertising and partnerships, advertising and client partnerships, and the president of cable entertainment and digital advertising sales. Prior to NBCUniversal, Yaccarino was executive vice president/COO of advertising sales, marketing and acquisitions with Turner, formerly known as Turner Broadcasting Systems.
Journalist Billboard Chris addressed concerns with Musk’s new appointment, noting a newly uncovered interview between the two in which Yaccarino appeared interested in Musk’s “freedom of speech not freedom of reach” regarding posts deemed “hateful.”
“That was her main selling point to the advertising exes in the audience, as she kept coming back to it,” Chris wrote, noting Yaccarino had also suggested Musk stop tweeting after 3 a.m.
“She also wanted advertising execs to be part of an influence council within Twitter,” he continued. “She’s not here to improve the user experience. She wants Twitter to be a ‘safe space.’”
He continued:
She represents advertisers, and her natural inclination is to limit speech, and pander to those who push woke ideology on the world. 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.
I hear your concerns, but don’t judge too early. I am adamant about defending free speech, even if it means losing money.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023
“I hear your concerns, but don’t judge too early,” Musk responded. “I am adamant about defending free speech, even if it means losing money.”
Luke Rudkowski of We Are Change commented on Musk’s new appointee, suggesting users could see the return of shadowbans — to which the tech billionaire responded, “that will not be the case.”
“I think people from both sides of the political spectrum will find Linda to be smart, fair and reasonable,” Musk said of his new hire.
Alex Lorusso, executive producer of The Benny Show, took a more confident approach to Yaccarino’s appointment by noting changes to Twitter’s terms of service.
“Regardless of who the new X/Twitter CEO is, Elon will still be Executive Chair and especially after our conversation today, I’m confident he’ll ensure that the company stays true to 2.0 values,” Lorusso said, further noting Musk still owned the platform and could remove the new CEO at any time if he was displeased with her performance. “Ensuring the platform allows the most Free Speech possible is a top priority for him.”
“Trust & Safety has been reforming policy so that it’s less strict. They’re starting to move toward Tweet-Level rather than Account-Level actions (suspensions) for minor violations,” he continued in a follow-up tweet. “It’s not perfect & their work isn’t done. It’s difficult to make massive changes overnight at scale”
Musk responded to Lorusso’s remarks saying his commitment to “open source transparency” along with “accepting a wide range of viewpoints” remained unchanged.
