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May 13, 2023

A lot of red flags surround Linda Yaccarino, Elon Musk's new Twitter CEO

By Andrea Widburg

Although free speech advocates (mostly conservatives) were initially suspicious when Elon Musk promised to return free speech to Twitter, for the past several months, he’s followed through on that promise. He’s restored banned accounts, released people from Twitter jail, and allowed words and thoughts that once were immediately censored. Last week, though, he announced that he was hiring Linda Yaccarino as Twitter’s new CEO and, after a bit of research into her background, the panic set in. Musk promised that all would be well, but many are very worried.

Musk proudly announced Yaccarino’s hiring on Thursday and reiterated on Friday:

The moment he made the announcement, free-speech supporters were horrified. It turns out that Yaccarino is tied to the WEF and its leftist views including, seemingly, on free speech.

Yaccarino’s forte is as an ad executive. Most recently, she worked for NBC Universal, which she joined in 2011. Before that, she spent 15 years at Turner Broadcasting System. She was innovative and successfully created different ways to bring in ad revenue. That all sounds very good, and those skills would be helpful for Twitter, considering that Musk would like to recoup his investment in the site.

But then there are the other things: Most disturbing for free speech fans is that Yaccarino “serves as chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Taskforce on the Future of Work.”

World Economic Forum? Noooo.

Forgive me for a slight digression, so I can remind you just how bad the WEF is. Recently, I heard James Lindsay give a brilliant speech about the modern left’s Maoist tactics, including censorship and cultural bullying, to force the West to embrace its planned Utopia. He makes many of the same points here:

Someone in the audience where I heard Lindsay speak pointed out that 20th-century communist movements always had dictators at the top of nomenklatura and apparatchik heap (e.g., Mao, Hitler, Stalin, etc.). He asked if someone was at the top of this century’s iteration of a communist coup. Lindsay’s answer? Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum. It’s all coming from him, with that organization as his propagandist and enforcer. Yaccarino works for Schwab’s WEF.

Moreover, it’s possible Yaccarino is on board with the WEF philosophy about individual liberty (dangerous), free speech (dangerous), Uniparty control (a good thing), etc. That comes through here as she talks about advertisers’ needs:

Here is Yaccarino at the WEF bemoaning that the gatekeepers are gone:

Regarding the following video, contrary to the description, Yaccarino does not mention vaccinations. Everything else is accurate:

Yaccarino made the next video while working for NBC Universal. Given the previous image of her wearing her pink hat, it seems reasonable that she’s on board with the social justice agenda:

Just last fall, Yaccarino was thrilled about DEI:

Those are the things to worry about. However, there are a couple of balancing considerations.

First, Yaccarino follows important conservative TikTokkers:

Second, Trump appointed her to his Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition:

As we know, Trump often appointed to important positions people who were enemies, not friends.

It’s no surprise, given Yaccarino’s job history and on-the-record statements, that people are worried. Musk, however, has promised that she’ll be great in the role and that people will get a chance to ask questions:

Interestingly, Musk has also posted a couple of very conservative things (things he’s said before but not in a concentrated fashion) as if to reassure people that he’s one of the good guys because he believes in the Constitution and in facts. Trust me, these posts imply. I’m not going to install a Fifth Column CEO:

Looking at what Yaccarino has said and done in the past, there are two ways to view her: Either she’s a true leftist believer and will be the Fifth Columnist at Twitter that everyone fears. Or she’s a woman of great skill and no principles, who will do and say anything her employer asks of her.

I never thought I’d be rooting for amorality, but that’s probably the best thing we can hope for now: If Elon Musk wants free speech, she’ll give him free speech—as long as he signs her paycheck.

Image: Linda Yaccarino. Twitter screen grab.

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