Elon Musk: Anti-Defamation League hurt Xâs ad revenue by âfalsely accusingâ him of anti-Semitism
Elon Musk is blaming the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for a slump in U.S. advertising revenue on X Corp., the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Ad sales are still down 60% “primarily due to pressure on advertisers” mounted by the ADL, Musk said in a series of posts Monday.
The non-profit organization has been “trying to kill” the platform since he bought it last year, by “falsely accusing” it and him of being anti-Semitic, he said, adding that legal action was one possible option if it persisted with its accusations. Musk said he was “pro free speech” but against anti-Semitism “of any kind.”
The ADL has said that reports of harassment and extremist content on the platform have spiked since Musk’s takeover.
While X no longer needs to bring U.S. advertising revenue back to prior levels in order to survive, it “would be nice” to see the numbers bounce back, Musk added in another post.
He emphasized the need for X to be a public forum for all and suggested that the ADL express its demands openly and explicitly. “In my opinion, they are excessive, but perhaps the public will agree with them,” Musk said.
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(With assistance from Faith Isbell and Jessica Park.)
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