X Sues Media Matters After Report on Ads Next to Pro-Nazi Content
Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) filed a lawsuit against the outlet for defamation on Monday
After Elon Musk threatened a “thermonuclear lawsuit” against Media Matters Friday, his company X (formerly Twitter) sued the media watchdog group on Monday for defamation, alleging the non-profit “maliciously” tried to drive away advertisers after it published a report on ads appearing alongside posts featuring antisemitic rhetoric.
“Media Matters designed both these images and its resulting media strategy to drive advertisers from the platform and destroy X Corp.,” X alleged in a lawsuit filed in a Nevada federal court.
Last week, after Musk wrote, “You have said the actual truth” in response to a post from an X user claiming Jewish people were responsible for promoting “dialectical hatred against whites,” the following morning, Media Matters published a study showing ads for major companies alongside posts featuring neo-Nazi content. The report triggered an exodus of advertisers from the platform including Apple, Disney, IBM, Sony, Paramount, and Warner Bros.
The White House later slammed Musk for endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory. “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,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement, adding that the White House “condemn[s] this abhorrent promotion of Antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans.”
The billionaire has repeatedly denied that he is antisemitic, saying in a post responding to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that he is “pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind.” X CEO Linda Yaccarino has tried to play damage control, reassuring advertisers and users that the platform does not tolerate hate speech against Jews or any other minorities, per a tweet on Nov. 16. Her lip service drew harsh criticism online, with one X user asking, “[H]ow many times are you gonna try to run interference for [Musk] like this before you just resign?”
