X advertisers Apple, Disney, and Comcast pause spending after Musk endorses antisemitic posts. Numerous well-known sponsors have stopped spending money on the site, formerly called Twitter after X owner Elon Musk pushed antisemitic conspiracy theories on it.
The following sponsors have stopped spending on X advertising since Friday, according to several news reports:
- As Apple
- ABC/NBCUniversal Comcast
- Walt Disney
- Warner Bros. Environmental
- Lenovo
- Top Priority Worldwide
- Lions Gate
- European Council
The Center for Countering Digital Hate’s research indicates that X has not been able to control hate speech that dehumanizes Muslims and Palestinians, praises Hitler, and encourages antisemitic conspiracies on its platform. But Elon Musk, the owner of X, is doing more than just sustaining these posts—he’s stoking the hatred. In a particularly heinous instance last week, Musk responded to a post that repeated the same violent antisemitic conspiracy theory that the shooter in the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting had spread by saying, “You have said the actual truth.”
A different analysis, released last week by the left-leaning media group Media Matters for America, demonstrated how advertisements from corporations like Apple, IBM, Bravo, Oracle, and Xfinity have been placed next to posts endorsing Nazi doctrine. In yet another attempt to restrict free speech and deceive advertisers, the research “completely misrepresented the real user experience on X.” Musk has sued or threatened to sue nonprofit groups like the Center for Countering Digital Hate and the Anti-Defamation League during his time as X’s owner, claiming that their reports are to blame for the company’s deteriorating relationship with advertisers.
Musk stated on X that “X Corp. will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and all those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company” when the split-second court opened on Monday.
X said in a statement that Musk shared that Media Matters created a fake experience on the platform to show advertisements next to antisemitic content and tricked advertisers. Media Matters flagged nine posts as potentially violating X’s content restrictions. However, X claims that just one flagged post was removed. While X did not take action against messages that glorify white supremacist Nazi principles or refer to Nazism as a “spiritual awakening,” it appears that the account that rejected the historical legitimacy of the Holocaust was suspended.
The CEO of X, Linda Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal advertising executive, has tried to reassure sponsors. However, it doesn’t seem like her efforts are having an impact since sponsors are still holding off on investing.
She wrote on Thursday afternoon, “X’s point of view has always been very clear: discrimination by everyone should STOP across the board—I think that’s something we can and should all agree on.” Regarding this platform, X has also made it quite apparent that we are working to stop discrimination and antisemitism. It’s ugly and wrong and has no place in this world—a complete halt.
The advertising business of X has experienced instability since Elon Musk took official ownership of the site that was once known as Twitter last year. Musk claimed in a tweet that Apple had “mostly stopped advertising on Twitter” around a month after taking over. However, they appeared to work out their differences following their meeting at Apple CEO Tim Cook’s Cupertino headquarters. Then, to assist advertisers in ensuring their ads are not displayed alongside objectionable content, the company signed agreements with ad tech firms DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science (IAS) in January. Yaccarino’s appointment in May was intended to allay advertisers’ fears regarding the platform’s growing hostility. However, Musk is still pushing the platform toward irrelevance by alienating essential sources of income.
The White House intervened with a statement denouncing the spread of racist and antisemitic hatred as Musk keeps entertaining conspiracy theories involving antisemitism.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates stated, “It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.” “We strongly condemn this heinous promotion of racist and antisemitic hate, which goes against our fundamental ideals as Americans.”
