The New York Times reports that there continues to be an advertiser rebellion at X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, after Elon Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
According to the Times, “The entertainment company Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony have joined other prominent brands in halting their spending on X. IBM cut off its advertising on X on Thursday, while Apple, Lionsgate, the entertainment and film distribution company, and Paramount Global, the media giant that owns CBS, all paused their ads on Friday.
“The spending freeze comes as X has fought to win back advertisers who were wary of spending on the platform after Mr. Musk took it over a year ago and said he would loosen content moderation rules. Major brands tend to be cautious about placing their ads next to posts with offensive or hateful speech.
“Mr. Musk, who bought Twitter in October 2022 and renamed it X, drew scrutiny … after replying to a post on X that accused Jewish people who are facing antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war of pushing the ‘exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them’ and supporting the immigration of ‘hordes of minorities.’
“‘You have said the actual truth,’ Mr. Musk replied. Jewish groups said that Mr. Musk’s message boosted a conspiracy theory known as replacement theory, which claims that Jews have organized nonwhite immigrants to replace the white race.”
The Times notes that Musk is fighting back against the characterization:
“Mr. Musk lashed out at advertisers who had pulled their dollars from X on Friday, and threatened legal action against Media Matters, a left-wing advocacy organization that said it found antisemitic content on X and highlighted advertisements for Apple, IBM and other brands that appeared alongside posts touting Hitler and the Nazi Party.
“In a post on Friday night, Mr. Musk said, ‘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’.”
KC’s View:
I said it on Friday, and I’ll repeat it – I believe that companies using X as a marketing tool may want to rethink their presence and investment in the platform. I believe that the discourse has significantly coarsened there since Musk’s takeover, and I think it is risky to be associated with what is happening there.
I’m off X. Done with it. I believe that Musk and X are doing more than just contributing to the hatred and intolerance that typifies the public discourse – they are helping to fuel and shape it. Musk may be a world-class innovator and inventor, but that’s no excuse for creating a cesspool, wallowing in it, and then creating the perception that somehow this is normal.
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