Elon Musk, owner of social network X (formerly Twitter) statedOn November 20, he said that the company would file a lawsuit against all organizations that oppose it. The reason for this was the billionaire’s “anti-Semitic” posts on his own social network.
“The lawsuit will be filed in a second on Monday. Musk wrote that X Corp has filed a thermonuclear lawsuit against the media and everyone involved in this fraudulent attack on our company.
Accusation of antisemitism
It all started when Musk responded to a post that claimed Jewish communities were promoting a certain kind of dialectical hatred towards white people. Netizen X also wrote about the “hordes of minorities” filling Western countries.
“You are actually telling the truth,” the billionaire wrote.
Additionally, Musk accused the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the organization that combats anti-Semitism, of promoting “racism against white people.” But he noted that not all Jewish communities hated whites.
Project Media Matters Drawing attention to Musk’s message, the businessman said that he “supports anti-Semitic conspiracy theories”, therefore “X also publishes Apple, Bravo, IBM, Oracle and Xfinity advertisements alongside pro-Nazi content.” Media Matters said that due to the chaos Musk created, ads for these companies were published on nationalist and neo-Nazi accounts advocating violence.
In response, many major companies immediately suspended their advertising on X. These include Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount and Sony Pictures, Comcast NBCUniversal write the magazine Hollywood Reporter.
“IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination, and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this completely unacceptable situation,” the company said.
When Musk bought the social network, some brands refused to cooperate with him because, in their opinion, X was actively spreading hateful content. In an effort to change advertisers’ minds in August of this year, X CEO Linda Iacarino insisted that companies’ posts stay away from potentially toxic content. She added that they introduced special control measures. A recent Media Matters publication showed that control is not enough for everyone.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney and Apple are X’s biggest advertisers, so their decision to stop advertising is especially troublesome for the platform.
“Anyone advocating genocide of any group will be removed from this platform.” Wrote Musk later.
Not the first anti-Semitic scandal
Musk writes that he threatened to sue ADL in September this year TechCrunch. According to the businessman, the company is slandering both him and X and accusing him of antisemitism.
“To clear our platform’s name for anti-Semitism, it seems we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit with the Anti-Defamation League… oh what an irony!” — Wrote Musk.
The billionaire added that he, too, is against anti-Semitism but supports freedom of expression. According to Musk, ADL puts pressure on advertisers, causing X’s ad revenue to drop by 60%.
The organization has long accused the platform of antisemitism. In 2016, the ADL published a report revealing that then-Twitter saw an increase in anti-Semitic posts inciting hatred against journalists.