2023-09-05 19:23:00
Elon Musk wants to sue an NGO that fights against antisemitism.
Elon Musk, owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, said Tuesday that considers suing an NGO that fights anti-Semitism for making “unfounded accusations” about the amplification of hate speech on the platform since it was acquired by the South African tycoon.
Musk accused the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization based in the United States, last Monday of presenting “unfounded accusations” against him. and X that impacted advertising revenue.
“To clear the name of our platform on anti-Semitism, it seems we have no choice but to file a libel suit against the Anti-Defamation League… Oh, what an irony!” the businessman wrote on the social network.
“ADL appears to be responsible for most of our lost revenue,” he wrote.adding that based on statements by the companies advertising the organization, “it could be responsible for the destruction of half the value of the company, that is, about 22,000 million dollars.”
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!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023
“Advertisers avoid controversy, so all it takes for ADL to crush our US and European ad revenue is to make baseless accusations,” he wrote in a lengthy thread. which began with a clarification that he is in favor of free speech, but is “against anti-Semitism of any kind.”
The NGO declined to comment on Musk’s legal threats, but responded to the “BanTheADL” hashtag, which trended online last week and was widely liked by the billionaire Tesla owner and SpaceX.
“To clear our platform’s name on anti-Semitism, it seems we have no choice but to file a libel suit against the Anti-Defamation League… Oh, what an irony!”
“The ADL is not surprised or disturbed that anti-Semites, white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and other trolls have launched a coordinated attack against our organization,” the NGO replied, quoted by the AFP news agency.
“This kind of thing is nothing new,” he said, adding that the campaign came after the group took part in a civil rights march marking the 60th anniversary of the “I have a dream” speech. (“I have a dream”), by Martin Luther King that took place in Washington last Saturday.
The Anti-Defamation League accusations
The ADL for years accused the social network of amplifying anti-Semitic hate speech: In a 2016 report, the group said anti-Semitic attacks on journalists spiked on Twitter “thanks to rhetoric from the presidential campaign” that same year.
Accusations against Musk include attacks on Jewish philanthropist George Soros.
According to the ADL and the Center for the Fight against Digital Hate (CCDH), problematic and racist speech has increased sharply on X since Musk bought Twitter.
The tycoon and owner of the social network ironized on his X account about filing a complaint with the Anti-Defamation League.
Since then, the Tesla boss has fired thousands of employees from the platform, cut content moderation and reinstated the account of former President Donald Trump.
Last month, the South African tycoon already sued the CCDH, accusing it of a smear campaign that damaged the social network’s relationship with advertisers.
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