\n\tSo much for free speech.<\/p>\n
The studio releasing Alex Gibney<\/a>\u2019s new Elon Musk<\/a> documentary Musk is finding itself unable to buy an ad on the biggest social platforms.<\/p>\n YouTube<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, and Instagram and Facebook owner Meta are all declining to run the trailer for Musk, along with X itself, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.<\/p>\n That last one is perhaps understandable, given its owner. But the rejection by the other platforms has taken distributor Bleecker Street by surprise, and it is internally scrambling to understand why the ad has been rejected, according to a person familiar with the company\u2019s processes who is not authorized to talk about them publicly.<\/p>\n The unwillingness of platforms to accept even paid advertising is sure to raise concerns about free speech and the dwindling number of companies that control many of the platforms in this country \u2014 and ironically provide a proof-text for the very point the film is coming to make. Gibney\u2019s doc is a four-hour look at a title character who attempts to control the conversation in various ways<\/a>, including with alleged suppressions on X, which he bought in 2022.<\/p>\n \n\tBleecker Street opens Musk in theaters on Oct. 9.<\/p>\n YouTube, TikTok and Meta have all supplied a reason related to \u201cpolitical content\u201d to Bleecker Street reps. The latter two companies\u2019 platforms, by policy, do not allow campaign or other political ads, in Meta\u2019s case largely owing to fallout from the Cambridge Analytica Facebook scandal during the 2016 election. But the Musk trailer, which dropped Thursday,<\/a> does not appear to fall in the category of the campaign advertising those bylaws were enacted to prevent. It simply contains a shot of a political rally in 2024 and a reference at the end to the 2024 election \u2014 the kind of flicks that occur in numerous documentaries and are hardly meant to stump for a particular candidate in an upcoming race.<\/p>\n \n\tThe reason for YouTube\u2019s rejection is even less clear, as the platform does allow campaign ads, albeit with \u201cpaid for\u201d disclosures from vetted candidates.<\/p>\n \n\tBleecker Street has entered an appeal with all three companies. Meta has already rejected the appeal. TikTok and YouTube are still entertaining the petitions. For its part, X has refused to engage with Bleecker Street on the film or even accept advertising for any of its other films on its upcoming calendar.<\/p>\n Press reps at Meta, TikTok, YouTube and X did not immediately provide a comment. A Bleecker Street representative confirmed that the ads were initially rejected but said they are continuing to appeal with all three companies besides X in the hope minds can be changed.<\/p>\n \n\tTraction on social media is key for a documentary release, which relies on word-of-mouth in a way a big-budget feature doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \n\tThe news also hits a nerve after Universal, which is releasing the film overseas, considered backing away <\/a>from distributing Musk before capitulating to public pressure and commenting <\/a>that it is standing by the film (though no details have yet been given).<\/p>\n