Elon Musk plans lawsuit against media matters amid antisemitism concerns on X
Elon Musk says he will sue media watchdog that said ads were being placed alongside antisemitic content
Elon Musk has announced plans to initiate a lawsuit against Media Matters and additional entities after major US companies paused their adverts on his social media site over concerns about antisemitism.
Earlier this week, Media Matters, a media monitoring organization, reported that corporate ads from IBM, Apple, Oracle, and Comcast's Xfinity were appearing alongside antisemitic material. This content included praise for Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. As a result, several prominent figures in the tech and media industries declared their intentions to pull their advertisements, including Warner Brothers, Paramount, and Disney.
“The split-second court opens on Monday, X Corp will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company,” Musk shared in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Musk on Wednesday agreed with a post on X that falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people, saying the user, who referenced the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, was speaking “the actual truth”.
“This week Media Matters for America posted a story that completely misrepresented the real experience on X, in another attempt to undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers,” Musk emphasized.
“Above everything, including profit, X works to protect the public’s right to free speech. But for speech to be truly free, we must also have the freedom to see or hear things that some people may consider objectionable,” he added.
Musk did not reference the furore around his tweet, but has previously denied he is antisemitic.
Subsequently, X has witnessed a decline in advertisers and a drop in user numbers. Musk introduced a paid premium system, asserting its purpose was to tackle bots on the platform.
“It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates emphasized.
Source: Guardian
