Elon Musk plans to sue the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish nonprofit fighting the spread of bigotry and anti-Semitism, for publicly defaming Twitter’s reputation.
Musk, who calls himself a free speech advocate, sparks latest controversy agree with Irish far-right activist Keith O’Brien (alias Keith Woods) calls for ADL Prohibited.
“Since the acquisition, ADL has attempted to wipe out the platform by falsely accusing it and me of being anti-Semitic.” musk claimsindicating that he will launch a libel suit opposition organization.
Just a few days ago, CEO Linda Yaccarino spoke with ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt and sought repair the wall The relationship between the advocacy group and the platform that Musk entrusts her to run.
Elon Musk loves my phone #BanTheADL
The people have spoken up, we want freedom of speech! pic.twitter.com/mM8ukjWEC8
— Keith Woods (@KeithWoodsYT) September 1, 2023
Instead, Musk has deflected responsibility for the company’s financial woes from his own decisions — saddled Twitter with $13 billion in high-interest debt and disbanded a content moderation team that kept advertisers happy — but put all the blame on it at ADL.
“They could be in trouble for destroying half the value of the company, which is about $22 billion,” Musk said. wrote.
He later clarified that it was At least $4 billion in direct damages — if the court awarded that number, the nonprofit would go bankrupt.
a long time ADL supporter Jewish comedian Sascha Baron Cohen, best known for playing fictional journalist Borat Sagdiyev, is also an ardent critic of companies like Twitter and Facebook.
“Social media platforms deliberately amplify content that incites anger and fear, including fear of others,” he said. warning during march on washington August 26. Cohen claimed that intolerant bigots had “moved from Ku Klux Klan rallies to chat rooms, from parades to message boards.”
Musk capitalizes on growing partisan divide
In contrast, Musk said that it was not his platform that spread anti-Semitic hatred on Twitter, but Greenblatt’s organization.
“Anti-Defamation League, because they are so active in demanding that social media accounts be banned, even for minor infractions, and ironically, anti-Semitism is the biggest generator of anti-Semitism on this platform!” he posted.
the fact is @Yuan Wait for the oversight board to take up the case before enforcing your own policy, telling you everything you need to know about company priorities. Holocaust denial and misrepresentation is anti-Semitism and has no place on social media platforms – full stop. https://t.co/4rUOigoK6q
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) August 31, 2023
Since the controversy erupted, Musk has drawn support from some Jewish Twitter users who have distanced themselves from the ADL, saying it does not speak for them.But even some prominent Jewish Republicans, including party donor Adam Milstein sound Their dissatisfaction with Musk’s “blaming Jews for anti-Semitism.”
Still, on Monday, Musk sought to leverage growing political divisions in the American Jewish community to drum up more support.he linked A 2020 article in a conservative publication pill Claiming that the ADL is blatantly partisan and personally attacking Greenblatt.
“It’s one thing to be a soulless, cynical politician; another to be a saboteur, incompetent.” this pill the article says At the time, he slammed his “decision to choose popular politics over the less glamorous job of keeping Jews safe”.
This isn’t the first time Musk has been forced to defend himself over claims he is promoting anti-Semitism and hate speech more broadly. In May, he wrote that George Soros, a prominent Democratic donor, “hated humanity” after the wealthy Jewish financier liquidated his entire Tesla holdings.
Musk also likened the Hungarian to the fictional supervillain Magneto, who in the comic books is a Holocaust survivor much like Soros in real life.However, it is worth noting that the Tesla CEO get support from Israel controversial diaspora ministera member of the country far right government in recent memory.
A prominent Israeli LGBTQ Jew and political Zionist advocate implored Musk to be more responsible and mindful of the potential impact of his decision, given that the tycoon is a social media star in his own right with enormous reach and influence.
“You have freedom of speech, but we are not immune to the violence your words and actions incite,” Hen Maziger wrote to Musk on the latter’s platform on Monday.
X and ADL did not immediately respond wealthrequest for comment.
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