Elon Musk threatens to sue Anti-Defamation League over lost revenue on X (Twitter)
Ion Musk has threatened legal action against the anti-Semitism campaign group Anti-Defamation League (ADL), accusing it of “trying to kill his social media platform X”.
Mr Musk said the ADL had “falsely accused” him and the X Platform of being anti-Semitic, which had led to a significant decline in the social media platform’s advertising revenue.
In a series of posts on Monday evening, the billionaire owner of the platform formerly known as Twitter said the company’s advertising revenue in the United States was down 60%, which Musk said was “primarily due to ADL pressure on advertisers.” “.
“To clear our platform’s name on anti-Semitism, we apparently have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League… oh, the irony!” Mr. Musk said.
He accused the group of “destroying half of the company’s value, about $22 billion” and making “unfounded allegations” that sparked controversy and caused advertisers to stop working with X.
“Advertisers avoid controversy, so all ADL has to do is make unsubstantiated allegations to destroy our advertising revenue in the US and Europe. In Asia they have much less power, so our advertising revenue there is still high.
“This ‘controversy’ is causing advertisers to ‘pause,’ but that pause is permanent until ADL gives the green light, which they will not do without our consent to secretly suspend or close any account they don’t like shadow.”
The ADL was contacted for comment on Mr. Musk’s claims
“Let me be clear: I am for free speech but against anti-Semitism of any kind,” Mr. Musk added.
A number of civil rights and other campaign groups have concerns about the content being distributed on the platform.
In the wake of Mr. Musk’s takeover, a number of companies have withdrawn or reduced their advertising on X due to concerns about these issues.
According to a study published last month by the Jewish security organization Community Security Trust (CST), incidents of anti-Jewish hate online rose by more than a third in the first six months of 2023 – with two-thirds of those incidents taking place on X.
Also last month, X launched legal action against another organization, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), over similar claims that it was scaring away advertisers from
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/elon-musk-adl-twitter-x-revenue-suing-b1104881.html Elon Musk threatens to sue Anti-Defamation League over lost revenue on X (Twitter)
