Elon Musk says he’s prepping ‘thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters’ and others after ad exodus over antisemitism controversy
Elon Musk on Saturday threatened to sue media watchdog Media Matters and those who attacked his social media platform been promoted alongside anti-Semitic content.
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Liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America said earlier this week it found ads from IBM, Apple and others were placed alongside content promoting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.
Musk on Wednesday approved an anti-Semitic post on X falsely claiming that members of the Jewish community were fanning hatred against white people, drawing strong condemnation, including from the White House.
“The court opens in a split second on Monday, X Corp will file a thermonuclear suit against Media Matters and everyone who collaborated in this fraudulent attack on our company,” Musk wrote in an article about other part.
Many companies ads suspended in the last two days, including IBM, DisneyWarner Bros. Discovery And ComcastLions Gate Entertainment and Paramount Worldwide. Axios reported that Apple, the world’s largest company by market value, would do the same.
“This week, Media Matters for America published an article that completely misrepresents the real experience on X, in yet another attempt to undermine free speech and mislead advertisers,” he said. declared. statement posted by Musk said. He accused Media Matters of creating an alternative account designed to “misinform advertisers” about their posts.
Media Matters did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment outside of business hours.
Musk has threat of legal action against other parties in the past, most notably against the Anti-Defamation League, a non-profit organization that fights against anti-Semitism, blaming it for X’s loss of advertising revenue. However, he has not yet sued lawsuit against the ADL.
Advertisers have fled the site since Musk bought it in October 2022 and reduced content moderation, leading to a sharp increase in hate speech, according to civil rights groups.
The White House Friday condemned Musk’s endorsement of what he called a “hideous” anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, and accused Musk of “abhorrent promotion of anti-Semitic and racist hatred” that “goes against our fundamental values as Americans” .
Musk is also CEO of electric car maker Tesla TSLA.O, which has been hit by several trials who allege widespread racial or sexual harassment of workers.
Anti-Semitism has increased in recent years in the United States and around the world. Following the outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, anti-Semitic incidents in the United States increased by nearly 400% from the previous year, the ADL said .
(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; writing by David Gaffen; editing by Tomasz Janowski, Kirsten Donovan and Daniel Wallis)
