Social-media company cites advertising weakness and the Tesla CEO’s pending $44 billion takeover

Elon Musk has cultivated close ties with Beijing to build Tesla’s business in China. Now that he is buying Twitter and focusing on free speech, WSJ looks at how China has used the social-media platform to promote its views, and why that’s raising concerns. Photo Illustration: Sharon Shi

Twitter Inc. reported a surprising decline in revenue that the social-media company blamed on advertising weakness and uncertainty related to its pending $44 billion acquisition by Elon Musk.

Twitter’s results Friday follow rival social-media company Snap Inc. posting its weakest-ever quarterly sales growth because of what it said was “increasing competition for advertising dollars that are now growing more slowly.”

Resume Subscription

We are delighted that you’d like to resume your subscription.

You will be charged
$ + tax
(if applicable) for The Wall Street Journal.
You may change your billing preferences at any time in the Customer Center or call
Customer Service.
You will be notified in advance of any changes in rate or terms.
You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling
Customer Service.

Please click confirm to resume now.