New York, United States:
Elon Musk, the owner of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, said the site is considering suing the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) over allegations of anti-Semitism, which he blames for declining revenue.
Musk late Monday accused the US-based Jewish organization of making baseless complaints against him and X that have scared off advertisers.
“To clear our platform’s name on anti-Semitism, it seems we have no choice but to file a libel lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League…oh the irony!” Elon Musk wrote on X on Monday.
“Based on what we’ve heard from advertisers, ADL appears to be responsible for the bulk of our loss of revenue,” he wrote, adding that the group “could potentially destroy half of the company’s value, so about $22. billion.”
“Advertisers avoid controversy, so all ADL needs to crush our US and European ad revenue is to make unfounded allegations,” he wrote in a lengthy thread that began with a clarification that he supports free speech, but “is against anti-Semitism. Of every kind.”
In an email to AFP, the ADL declined to comment on Elon Musk’s legal threats, instead responding to the hashtag “BanTheADL” popularized on the website.
Elon Musk, who bought Twitter last year and renamed it X, has come under fire for liking posts with the hashtag.
“ADL is not surprised or deterred that anti-Semites, white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and other trolls have launched a coordinated attack against our organization,” the email read.
“This sort of thing is nothing new,” the ADL said, adding that the campaign came after the group took part in a civil rights march marking the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech.
The ADL has for years accused the social media site of amplifying anti-Semitic hate speech and recently met with top executives at X.
In a 2016 report, the group said anti-Semitic attacks against journalists on Twitter had exploded, “thanks to rhetoric in the 2016 presidential campaign.”
It accused the social network of failing to get its “troll problem” under control.
Billionaire Musk has also previously been accused of fomenting anti-Semitic tropes, including attacks on Jewish philanthropist George Soros.
According to the ADL and the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), problematic and racist comments on X have increased sharply since Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition in October.
Since then, the Tesla boss has fired thousands of employees from the platform, stopped content moderation and reinstated former President Donald Trump’s account.
Last month, Musk sued the CCDH, accusing it of a smear campaign that damaged the social network’s relationship with advertisers.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published through a syndicated feed.)