Elon Musk filed a lawsuit in opposition to Media Issues this afternoon in response to the media watchdog’s scathing exposé, alleging that Xitter was pairing adverts with antisemitic and white supremacist content material, triggering a mass advertiser exodus, reviews Deadline. Among the many manufacturers that fled the community was Apple, which was estimated to have spent $100 million a 12 months on promoting on the platform. Antisemites and white supremacists on Xitter cheered the lawsuit.
Musk’s lawsuit, filed in Texas, seeks to cease Media Issues from making claims that Xitter locations company adverts subsequent to extremist content material. The lawsuit argues that Media Issues wrongly accused Xitter of pairing adverts with hateful content material, saying these situations had been uncommon and misrepresented.
Musk proclaimed, “Most of the largest advertisers are the best oppressors of your proper to free speech,” vowing to dismantle Media Issues’ “fraudulent assault on our firm.” This salvo adopted a string of different Musk-related controversies, together with a White Home condemnation over an antisemitic retweet and a SpaceX mishap.
Media Issues President Angelo Carusone countered Musk’s threats by saying, “Removed from the free speech advocate he claims to be, Musk is a bully who threatens meritless lawsuits in an try and silence reporting that he even confirmed is correct.”
From Deadline:
The erratic Musk has beforehand threatened authorized motion in opposition to different critics over time however did not observe by way of. In September, when the Anti-Defamation League sharply criticized X/Twitter for growing antisemitic and different hate speech, Musk promised to sue – however by no means did. The South African billionaire blamed ADL for an promoting decline of 60% on the social media platform he purchased for over $44 billion final 12 months.