Austrian Airlines Ditches Twitter Over ‘Hate’—Yet Says TikTok ‘Fits Their Values’?

Austrian Airlines has left Twitter because of “an increasing spread of hate, agitation, and disinformation” which they say is incompatible with their values.

They consider a continued presence on TikTok, on the other hand, to be consonant with the airline’s values and will continue to remain engaged in that platform. Go figure.

In a statement, the airline says:

Austrian Airlines is leaving the platform X, as an increasing spread of hate, agitation, and disinformation is perceptible and this is not compatible with our values. Austrian Airlines is pleased to continue to keep its communities up to date on the social media platforms Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn and to offer passengers a corresponding service.

Other members of Lufthansa Group, such as Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines, and SWISS, continue to maintain accounts on the platform.

People and businesses can choose where to interact, for both ROI and reputational reasons. Just not liking Elon Musk is enough. Some folks have an aesthetic dislike for Twitter now that it’s owned by Musk, because of his personal politics or because of choices he makes in business. Personality and ideology used to help sell Teslas while along a certain margin it may hamper it now (or may encourage different buyers).

Still, it seems a strange take to say that X is somehow beyond the pale but TikTok better reflects their values. Just a year ago the TikTok algorithm was promoting videos sympathizing with Osama bin Laden. The platform censors content disfavored by the Chinese government, as well as throttling views of videos from racial and sexual minorities. So, okey dokey Austrian.

Meanwhile, I actually find the ‘For You’ tab of Twitter to be much improved versus a few months ago (as well as optional!) and the platform still the most important place of discourse. It continues to amaze me, for instance, in addition to politicians and public intellectuals how many billionaires are genuinely active and engage directly there. And it’s precisely the lack of traditional gatekeeping that makes Twitter useful.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. … politicians and public intellectuals [and] billionaires are genuinely active and engage directly there.

    None of these people are worth hearing from.

  2. This has 100% to do with X not censoring enough. Free speech is dead in Europe and the UK.

    It’s interesting how leftists demand censorship, imprison and incite violence against their political opponents, force discrimination by race/gender, and then they call anyone who disagrees with them nazis and fascists, with absolutely no self awareness.

  3. Europe and Britain want to sue Musk **personally** for not censoring tweets BY AMERICANS about AMERICAN elections. And this action is being egged on by high-level politicians in America.

    As a classical liberal, I am disgusted with where we are at.

  4. Austria? Birthplace of you-know-who? What about the composition of the current government or the last election results.

  5. While I love Austrian’s onboard service, this is reason enough to not fly them. It moves the needle for me, especially in a highly competitive market.

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