Elon Musk says how much freedom of speech is costing Twitter per year

Twitter owner Elon Musk has appeared on the 'Real Talk with Zuby' podcast, where he discussed the running cost of having freedom of speech as one of the main priorities on Twitter.

Musk recently sat down for the podcast and was asked about his thoughts on the line between keeping people on a social media platform, selling those people advertising while also making the platform an enjoyable place people can spend time. Musk went on to say that the company took a hit with advertising after the platform opened up its rules and regulations to allow more freedom of speech.

Musk said that Twitter's advertising in North America dropped by more than 50%. Advertiser spending in Europe on Twitter is down about 40%, according to Musk. The Twitter owner said that if the company continued on the same path when he took over in October 2022, it would still have a lot more of that now-missing revenue. Musk goes on to say, "Freedom of speech is pretty expensive". Adding, "Freedom of speech is currently costing about $2 billion a year."

The Twitter owner reiterated and said, "In lost revenue, probably, right now, roughly $2 billion a year." Notably, Musk went on to say that he believes that advertisers will eventually come back to Twitter once they realize the platform isn't purveying hate speech. If you are interested in learning more about Elon Musk and Twitter, check out the full Real Talk with Zuby podcast as Musk dives much deeper into these topics.