The owner of the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, Elon Musk has announced that he may sue the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for defamation.
According to the billionaire, the statements of this non-profit organization that the intensification of the process of distributing content containing narratives provoking an increase in hate sentiments and radical rejection of another worldview is recorded on the virtual platform that belongs to him caused a drop in the income of the social network from the placement of advertising materials.
On his personal X page, Elon Musk posted a publication in which he stated that the revenues of this platform from advertising in the United States continue to show a negative dynamic, expressed in a 60% drop in the corresponding financial indicator. According to the owner of the social network, the current situation is mostly the result of pressure from ADL, which, as he claims, was reported by the advertisers themselves. Also, Elon Musk said that the non-profit organization almost managed to kill X.
The entrepreneur separately reported that since he became the owner of the social network in October last year, ADL has been making efforts to destroy this virtual platform by spreading allegations that the businessman shares the ideology of anti-Semitism. According to the billionaire, he is not a supporter of these views.
Elon Musk said that the social network, as part of its efforts to refute information about promoting the spread of anti-Semitic narratives, seems to have no other choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League.
ADL, in response to information about the entrepreneur’s intentions, said that it does not comment on legal threats in accordance with corporate policy. At the same time, a statement was made that representatives of this non-profit organization held a meeting with the management of X, including CEO Linda Iaccarino, in order to help increase advertising revenue.
However, the #BanTheADL campaign has spread on the social network. The representative of the non-profit organization said that the attack on the league by people holding anti-Semitic views, supporters of the idea of white supremacy, followers of conspiracy theories, and others, as he put it, trolls is not surprising and is not an absolutely unexpected event. According to him, there is nothing new in such activity.
ADL and other similar organizations, including the Center for Countering Digital Hatred (CCDH), stated that according to the results of monitoring the ideological content of content published in X, it was recorded that since the beginning of the functioning of the virtual platform under the leadership of Elon Musk, an increase in the number of materials was recorded, the semantic filling of which contributes to the promotion of anti-human ideas.
CCDH found that the daily use of the n-word after Mr. Musk became the owner of the social network was three times higher than the average for 2022. The organization also recorded a 58% increase in the number of publications containing offensive statements against transgender and gay people.
In a separate report, ADL stated that the number of anti-Semitic content materials on the social network has not only increased, but the pace of moderation of such content has also decreased.
Elon Musk described the data of these organizations as completely false. The entrepreneur stated that after he became the owner of the social network, the number of views of publications containing narratives that promote hate speech decreased on a regular basis.
In August, Elon Musk sued CCDH. The entrepreneur accused this organization of purposeful actions to create obstacles to the interaction of the virtual platform with advertisers. According to him, as part of the relevant efforts, CCDH published reports with a negative assessment of the social network’s practice of responding to content aimed at spreading hate ideas and activating relevant sentiments. The lawsuit also alleges that the organization is involved in violating the terms of service of the platform and ignoring federal laws on hacking. This claim is based on the fact that CCDH allegedly encouraged some individuals to improperly collect information about a social network that was provided to a third-party brand monitoring provider.
CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed said that for him the accusations sound like a conspiracy theory. In his opinion, Elon Musk was looking for an excuse to blame the organization for his own failures as CEO. Imran Ahmed believes that the entrepreneur himself gave a signal to action to the supporters of racist and other inhumane ideological systems, stating that his social network is a platform for freedom of speech.
