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Companies are suspending ads on Twitter after Elon Musk's takeover. Here's the full list of brands pressing pause on advertising.

A picture of Elon Musk.
Twitter's new leadership is making some advertisers nervous. Theo Wargo/Getty Images.

  • Advertisers including Volkswagen, Audi, and Pfizer have reportedly paused their ads on Twitter.
  • General Motors and food company General Mills have also temporarily suspended advertising. 
  • "At this moment, we cannot confidently state that Twitter is a safe place for brands," one advertising agency said.
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Twitter's new leadership is making some advertisers nervous.

Companies including General Motors, Volkswagen, Audi, and Pfizer have reportedly paused ads on the platform as concern over Elon Musk's plans for content moderation grows, per The Wall Street Journal.

On Thursday, the billionaire tried to reassure skittish advertisers that the platform would remain safe to advertise on in a virtual meeting with more than 100 advertisers and ad agency executives, Insider's Lara O'Reilly and Lindsay Rittenhouse reported.

However, some advertisers are not so sure, and have pressed pause on advertising for the time being. Read on to see which companies have taken a step back from the platform.

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General Mills

General Mills, a food company whose brands include breakfast cereal Cheerios, Bisquick, and Häagen-Dazs, has paused all advertising on the social media platform. 

"As always, we will continue to monitor this new direction and evaluate our marketing spend," a spokesperson for General Mills told The Wall Street Journal.

Audi

Audi A8.
Audi A8. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

German carmaker, Audi AG, has also suspended its advertising on Twitter. 

Audi spokesperson Whaewon Choi-Wiles told The Associated Press on Thursday that the company "will continue to evaluate the situation."

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Pfizer

Pfizer has also suspended its advertising on the social media platform, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.

Pfizer did not immediately respond to Insider's request for confirmation.

General Motors 

General Motors, a competitor of Musk's Tesla, suspended its advertising last week. The company said it will continue to use the platform to interact with customers but not pay for any services on the site. 

"We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership. As is normal course of business with a significant change in a media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising. Our customer care interactions on Twitter will continue," the company said in an emailed statement seen by CNBC.

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Volkswagen

Volkswagen has reportedly taken similar steps and pulled its ads from the social media platform, per The Wall Street Journal's anonymous sources.

Representatives for Volkswagen did not immediately respond to Insider's request for confirmation.

Mondelez International

Mondelez International logo and Oreo cookies are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on September 25, 2021.
Mondelez International logo and Oreo cookies are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on September 25, 2021. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

According to the report, Oreo maker Mondelez International has also suspended advertising on Twitter for the time being. 

Representatives for Mondelez International did not immediately respond to Insider's request for confirmation.

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Interpublic Group

Major advertising agency Interpublic Group has also advised clients to pause spending on Twitter advertising during the company's "chaotic" interim. 

Interpublic Group wrote in an email on Monday reviewed by The Wall Street Journal: "The current situation is unpredictable and chaotic, and bad actors and unsafe behaviors can thrive in such an environment."

"At this moment, we cannot confidently state that Twitter is a safe place for brands."

Advertising agencies Havas and IPG have also advised clients to pause spending on Twitter. 

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Insider contacted Twitter for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

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