Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, has threatened to sue Microsoft for allegedly using Twitter data without permission. In response to Microsoft’s plan to remove Twitter from its corporate advertising platform, Musk tweeted, “They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time.” However, he did not provide any evidence to support his claim.
When approached for comment, Microsoft declined to respond. Microsoft had announced that its advertising platform would no longer support Twitter from April 25, meaning ad buyers would no longer be able to access their Twitter accounts through Microsoft’s social management tool. Other social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn will continue to be available, according to the notice.
Musk also tweeted about the issue of social media data and said he was “open to ideas,” but warned against “ripping off the Twitter database, demonetizing it (removing ads) and then selling our data to others.”
Twitter started charging for the data it collects from “hundreds of millions” of users in February, with a basic plan starting at $100 a month. Musk has been cutting Twitter’s workforce since buying the company for $44bn in October and has taken measures to boost the company’s finances, such as charging users for “blue tick” verification.
In recent months, major companies like Apple reportedly halted advertising on the platform over concerns about how content was moderated on the site. Musk has blamed activists for pressuring advertisers, and in a recent interview with the BBC, he said Twitter had just months left to live when he took over.
He also said that “almost all advertisers have come back or said they are going to come back” to Twitter, and that the platform could be profitable by the second quarter of 2023. Musk added that he would be willing to sell the company if the right person came along. As of now, it is uncertain if Musk will follow through on his threat to sue Microsoft, or if the two companies will find a way to resolve the issue.
However, Musk’s latest tweet accusing Microsoft of using Twitter data without permission has sparked controversy. In a separate tweet, Musk expressed his openness to ideas regarding the social media platform’s data. However, he noted that “ripping off the Twitter database, demonetizing it (removing ads), and then selling our data to others isn’t a winning solution.”
Since buying Twitter for $44 billion in October, Musk has cut the company’s workforce by about 80% and has taken steps to improve its finances, such as charging users for “blue tick” verification. Twitter started charging for the data it collects from “hundreds of millions” of users in February, with a basic plan starting at $100 a month.
In recent months, major companies, including Apple, have reportedly halted advertising on Twitter over concerns about content moderation on the site. In November, Musk said that Twitter had seen a “massive” drop in revenue and blamed activists for pressuring advertisers.
However, in an interview with the BBC last week, he said that almost all advertisers had come back or said they were going to come back to Twitter, and he believed the platform could be profitable by the second quarter of 2023. He also added that he would be willing to sell the company if the right person came along.