Media watchdog hits again at ‘bully’ Elon Musk after he threatens lawsuit

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A media watchdog has branded Elon Musk a “bully” after he vowed to file a “thermonuclear lawsuit” in opposition to it in a row about antisemitism on X, previously Twitter.

Watchdog group Media Matters for America stated earlier this week that it had discovered that company commercials for IBM, Apple, Oracle and Comcast’s Xfinity had been being positioned alongside antisemitic content material on X.

The evaluation prompted a sequence of main firms – together with Disney, Apple and IBM – to droop their promoting on the platform.

Hitting again on Saturday on the exodus of advertisers from the platform, Musk wrote a submit by which he stated: “Many of the largest advertisers are the greatest oppressors of your right to free speech.”

The Tesla founder added in a second submit: “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.”

Media Matters responded to Musk’s risk on Saturday, saying: “Far from the free speech advocate he claims to be, Musk is a bully who threatens meritless lawsuits in an attempt to silence reporting that he even confirmed is accurate.

“Musk admitted the ads at issue ran alongside the pro-Nazi content we identified. If he does sue us, we will win.”

In one instance, a submit claiming Hitler and the Nazis represented a “spiritual awakening” appeared proper above an advert for Apple’s Mac computer systems.

Musk has additionally been accused of fuelling antisemitism this week over his response to a social media consumer who appeared to push the “great replacement” conspiracy principle on X.

The X consumer claimed that Jewish communities “have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them”. That principle was among the many hateful concepts referenced by the gunman who killed 11 folks at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 within the deadliest antisemitic assault in US historical past.

Musk replied to the submit, writing on X: “You have said the actual truth.”

On Thursday, IBM informed the Financial Times it had “suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation”.

A supply at Apple informed Axios that the corporate was doing the identical, and a Lions Gate Entertainment spokesperson confirmed that it, too, was becoming a member of the exodus. Disney has additionally paused spending on X, The New York Times experiences.

In September, Musk additionally threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League, a civil rights advocacy group that screens antisemitism and types of extremism, blaming the watchdog group for “trying to kill this platform” with accusations of antisemitism.

“To be super clear, I’m pro free speech, but against antisemitism of any kind,” he added.

The White House additionally weighed in, accusing Musk of enabling the “abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate”.

“It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” the White House stated in an announcement.

Source: independent.co.uk