Musk has signed X’s death warrant

When X was acquired: Musk’s apology to the advertisers that pulled their money from the site on Friday and threatened legal action against the left-wing organization Media Matters

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.

Apple, Amazon, and NBCUniversal’s Bravo network all have advertisements next to antisemitic posts on the site, found a new report by Media Matters.

Not long before, Musk posted: “You have said the actual truth” in response to a post that claimed Jewish people hold “dialectical hatred” of white people.

The outcry over hate speech on X comes amid a financially challenging time for the platform, which generates nearly all of its revenue from advertising. Musk blamed the Anti-Defamation League and other advocacy organizations for the drop in U.S. advertising revenue.

For months, Musk has attempted to find other ways to make money on the social media platform, including charging for “verified” blue checks in a subscription service, but none of his efforts have have gained momentum, just as the company’s advertising base appears more rickety than ever.

X’s chief executive Linda Yaccarino attempted to contain the fallout and lessen the hit to the company’s wallet, writing on the site that X’s stance “has always been very clear that discrimination by everyone should STOP across the board,” adding that: “There’s no place for it anywhere in the world — it’s ugly and wrong. Full stop.

Since he acquired the platform last year, Musk has made a lot of changes, and one of them is the inclusion of Yaccarino as the new head of advertising. The loosened rules surrounding what can be posted to the site led to a rise in hate and conspiracy theories.

Apple – not IBM – is big spenders on Android, but Apple is going after the truth: a lawsuit against Media Matters against Bowers

At a time when antisemitism is exploding in America, it is dangerous to use one’s influence to foster antisemitic theories.

The president of Media Matters is quoted as saying that advertisers like IBM and Apple are big spenders on X. In the past, Apple has frequently been among the top 20 advertisers on X.

Carusone adds that Apple usually signals a certain level of brand safety to other advertisers. The company has strict policies surrounding controversial content in its App Store and on its own platforms. According to Carusone, if Apple has paused or paused, it could scare other advertisers away from the platform. It goes far beyond the purse strings.

“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 concept was embraced by Robert Bowers, who killed 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018.

In a Friday post, Mr. Musk stated that he would be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and all those who were involved in this fraudulent attack on his company.

In a statement, Joe Benarroch, the head of business operations at X, said, “50 impressions served against the content in the article, out of 5.5 billion served the whole day, points to the fact of how efficiently our model avoids content for advertisers.” He added, “Data wins over allegations.”