Elon Musk is threatening to sue the Anti-Defamation League to clear the identify of X, the social media platform previously often known as Twitter. The billionaire had beforehand blamed the group for dropping promoting income.
“To clear our platform’s name on the matter of anti-Semitism, it looks like we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League … oh the irony!” Musk posted.
The Tesla proprietor had previously made it “super clear” that he was “pro-free speech but against anti-Semitism of any kind.”
Musk accused the ADL of making “unfounded accusations” towards X/Twitter stating that this has made advertisers “pause” their spending on the platform.
“Advertisers avoid controversy, so all that is needed for ADL to crush our US & European ad revenue is to make unfounded accusations,” he shared on X. “They have much less power in Asia, so our ad revenue there is still strong.”
Musk continued, “This ‘controversy’ causes advertisers to ‘pause,’ but that pause is permanent until ADL gives the green light, which they will not do without us agreeing to secretly suspend or shadowban any account they don’t like. That is the relationship they’ve had with X/Twitter for many years. Presumably, they have that with all Western search or social media orgs.”
When reached for remark, the ADL mentioned they don’t touch upon authorized threats as a matter of coverage. Nevertheless, a spokesperson for the group has acknowledged the “coordinated attack” on the ADL with the #BanTheADL hashtag that Musk has additionally interacted with.
“ADL is unsurprised yet undeterred that antisemites, white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and other trolls have launched a coordinated attack on our organization. This type of thing is nothing new,” an ADL spokesperson mentioned in an announcement.
The assertion continued, “This onslaught comes following our participation in the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington, where ADL proudly marched shoulder-to-shoulder with African-American leaders and those from other minority communities. It also follows a meeting with the leadership of X, formerly known as Twitter, that clearly upset these hateful groups.”
“Such insidious efforts don’t daunt us. Instead, they drive us to be unflinching in our commitment to fight hate in all its forms and ensure the safety of Jewish communities and other marginalized groups.”
In a separate post, Musk reassured a fan that “ADL seems to be responsible for most of our revenue loss” including, “In our case, they would potentially be on the hook for destroying half the value of the company, so roughly $22 billion.”
Musk accused ADL of pushing “hard for us to shut down accounts like [Libs of TikTok], even though it has nothing to do with anti-Semitism, which is their supposed charter!”
Earlier within the day, Musk mentioned that since he acquired the digital platform “the ADL has been trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic.”
In a second submit, Musk continued, “Our US advertising revenue is still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that’s what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!”
See all of the X posts down beneath.
To clear our platform’s identify on the matter of anti-Semitism, it seems to be like now we have no selection however to file a defamation lawsuit towards the Anti-Defamation League … oh the irony!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023
To be tremendous clear, I’m professional free speech, however towards anti-Semitism of any variety
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023
Advertisers keep away from controversy, so all that’s wanted for ADL to crush our US & European advert income is to make unfounded accusations. They’ve a lot much less energy in Asia, so our advert income there’s nonetheless robust.
This “controversy” causes advertisers to “pause”, however that pause is…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023
Based mostly on what we’ve heard from advertisers, ADL appears to be answerable for most of our income loss.
Giving them most good thing about the doubt, I don’t see any situation the place they’re answerable for lower than 10% of the worth destruction, so ~$4 billion.
Doc discovery of…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023
Fascinating.
In our case, they might probably be on the hook for destroying half the worth of the corporate, so roughly $22 billion.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023
ADL has pushed exhausting for us to close down accounts like Chaya’s, despite the fact that it has nothing to do with anti-Semitism, which is their supposed constitution!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023
Our US promoting income continues to be down 60%, primarily resulting from stress on advertisers by @ADL (that’s what advertisers inform us), in order that they virtually succeeded in killing X/Twitter!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023