Sun 19 October 2023:
As major businesses like Disney and Apple left X, Elon Musk threatened to file a “thermonuclear lawsuit” against a US media watchdog that allegedly claimed advertisements were running alongside antisemitic content.
Earlier this week, the watchdog group Media Matters for America revealed that it had discovered antisemitic content on X, the former name for Twitter, being displayed alongside corporate ads for IBM, Apple, Oracle, and Comcast’s Xfinity.
In a statement posted on X, Musk said without naming any companies, “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.”
He further said that “to manipulate public and advertisers, Media Matters created an alternate account and curated the posts and advertising appearing on the account’s timeline to misinform advertisers about the placement of their posts. These contrived experiences could be applied to any platform.”
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 pic.twitter.com/55vl7PspaQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2023
On Friday, Media Matters added Apple, Disney, Comcast, Lionsgate Entertainment, and Paramount Global to its list of companies pausing advertising on X. The halts came after Musk on Wednesday endorsed an antisemitic post on X that falsely claimed members of the Jewish community were stoking hatred against white people. This endorsement came amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
On Thursday, IBM announced it stopped advertising on X due to a report its ads were shown next to pro-Nazi posts at X.
Musk’s backing of the antisemitic post drew sharp condemnation including from the White House. Referring to Musk’s post, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said it was “unacceptable” to repeat such a “hideous lie.”
“We condemn this abhorrent promotion of anti-Semitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans,” Bates said.
In a recent study, disinformation monitoring group NewsGuard found that paying subscribers at X were the big spreaders of misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war.
“During all of this Musk-induced chaos, corporate advertisements have also been appearing on pro-Hitler, Holocaust denial, white nationalist, pro-violence, and neo-Nazi accounts,” Media Matters said.
The terms ‘thermonuclear’ lawsuits and verdicts are used in instances where the damages awarded by the jury against corporations are huge, often in excess of $100 million.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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