As many of you are well aware, the current atmosphere on Twitter (X, but we’ll stick with its original name) has become very toxic and hate-filled. It has gotten so bad that advertisers are beginning to pull out or pause their ADs on the social media platform due to the rise of antisemitic posts on X.
The platform was already facing problematic posts, whether it was bigoted or racial, most advertisers were on the fence regarding their future in advertising on X, but with wars happening in Ukraine and Israel, there has been an increase of pro-Nazi and antisemitic posts. The watchdog group Media Matters for America said earlier this week that it had found that corporate advertisements for IBM, Apple, Oracle, and Comcast’s Xfinity were being placed alongside antisemitic content on X, formerly known as Twitter.
IBM announced on Thursday, that it would suspend its advertising after the watchdog group said its adverts were being placed next to content promoting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. What caused Advertisers to pull away? It began a day before the watchdog group intervened, a social media user on X pushed one of the conspiracy theories that a domestic terrorist believed in when the gunman murdered 11 people at a Pittsburgh Synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic in US history. The Great Replacement is an idiotic belief that Jewish Communities were pushing the exact kind of dialectical against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. Mr. Musk replied to the post saying You have said the actual truth. After IBM’s announcement, companies such as Disney, Lions Gate Entertainment, Apple, and Paramount Global have also announced that they would be pausing their ADs. Here is a compiled list of companies that have begun to pull their ADs from X, according to Media Matters:
- IBM
- Lions Gate Entertainment
- Apple
- Disney
- Warner Bros. Discovery
- Paramount Global
- NBCUniversal
- Comcast
- Sony
Elon Musk responded to the AD exodus, writing in a post Many of the largest Advertisers are the greatest oppressors of your right to free speech. Like conspiracy theories, it was baseless and lacked any truth. He also vowed 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.
X’s content policy forbids targeting individuals or groups with content that references forms of violence or violent events where a protected category was the primary target or victims, where the intent is to harass, which includes texts that depict or refer to genocides (which includes the holocaust), but antisemitic and pro-Nazi content continues to pop up on the platform. According to Forward, a Jewish, Independent Non-Profit reported that X paid $3,000 in AD revenue to a Holocaust-Denying Account, Media Matters weighed in on the recent reports, saying that X is financially rewarding Pro-Adolf Hitler propaganda:
A verified account that has drawn millions of views for posts that lionize Hitler and deny the Holocaust said that it’s been paid $3,000 this year by X. Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino’s platform has continued to be a boon for bigots and misinformation but a disaster for advertisers: We found numerous advertisements for companies on that pro-Hitler account, including for major sportsbooks BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel.
Media Matters President, Angelo Carusone responded on the Daily Beast and stated in response to Elon Musk’s threat: Far from the free speech advocate he claims to be, Musk is a bully who threatens meritless lawsuits in an attempt to silence reporting that he even confirmed is accurate, Musk admitted the ads at issue ran alongside the pro-Nazi content we identified. If he does sue us, we will win.
X’s new CEO, Linda Yaccarino continues an unwinnable battle while doing damage control when it comes to trying to rebuild ties with advertisers who have already begun to leave the platform due to the rise of hateful and toxic rhetoric that has flourished after Musk’s takeover of Twitter, which the advertisers felt that the rhetoric would harm their brand.
“When it comes to this platform — X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There’s no place for it anywhere in the world — it’s ugly and wrong. Full stop.”
In this writer’s honest opinion, you may have the right to say it under the guise of Freedom of Speech, but you can’t escape the consequences of your actions or your beliefs in a bigoted, disgusting conspiracy.
Source: The Independent
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