Billionaire Elon Musk has announced that his social media company will sue media organisations over alleged anti-Semitism, after a series of companies stopped advertising on X.
"As soon as the courts open on Monday, X Corp will file a 'thermonuclear' lawsuit against Media Matters and any other entities that colluded in this false attack on the company," billionaire Elon Musk said on November 18.
Media Matters, a left-wing non- governmental organization that researches and monitors media in the US, reported this week that advertisements from many large US companies such as IBM, Apple, Oracle and Comcast were placed alongside posts with anti-Semitic content, supporting fascism or Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on X.
IBM announced on November 15 that it would immediately stop all advertising on the platform. A day later, major companies such as Disney, Warner Bros., Comcast, Lions Gate and Paramount made similar decisions. Axios , citing sources familiar with the matter, revealed that Apple is preparing to join the wave.
Elon Musk in Washington in September, after testifying before the US Senate on artificial intelligence. Photo: AFP
The billionaire accused Media Matters of posting misleading information about users' experiences on X, attempting to "undermine free speech and mislead advertisers."
He said Media Matters created fake accounts and "placed posts and advertising content on display boards to mislead about the placement of ads."
Controversy erupted after Elon Musk expressed support for a conspiracy theory that Jews are stoking hatred against white people. Musk said the author of the post, who referred to the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, was "speaking the truth."
The "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory claims that minorities, including Jews and the left, are gradually replacing white communities in the US and Europe, leading to a "white genocide".
The White House on November 17 accused Musk of "repeating false conspiracy theories" and of "spreading anti-Semitism and racism, which go against core American values."
Representatives for Elon Musk and social network X declined to comment on the post promoting the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory. The billionaire also deleted the post on X.
Musk has threatened legal action against multiple parties, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a nonprofit that fights anti-Semitism, for blaming the group for X’s loss of advertising revenue. However, the billionaire has not yet sued the ADL.
Anti-Semitism has been on the rise in the United States and globally in recent years. Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, anti-Semitic incidents in the United States have increased 400% compared to the same period in 2022, according to the ADL.
Thanh Danh (According to Reuters )
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