Elon Musk accuses ADL of being ‘biggest generators of anti-Semitism’ on Twitter
Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, rebranded as X, on June 16, 2023. Photo by Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images
By Jacob Kornbluh September 4, 2023
Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, which he rebranded as X, is doubling down on his criticism of the Anti-Defamation League amid an aggressive social media campaign against the group.
The ADL “are ironically the biggest generators of anti-Semitism on this platform!” Musk posted Monday morning. The post was in response to a video clip in which Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist, called the ADL “pro-Hitler” on his talk show.
Musk explained that the ADL has been aggressive in urging the banning of social media accounts for “for even minor infractions,” describing it as “trying to kill the platform.” In another post, he agreed with a user who suggested the ADL does not represent the interests of Jewish people.
By Monday evening, Musk implied he was going to file a $4 billion lawsuit against the ADL. “Based on what we’ve heard from advertisers,” Musk wrote, “ADL seems to be responsible for most of our revenue loss. Giving them maximum benefit of the doubt, I don’t see any scenario where they’re responsible for less than 10% of the value destruction, so ~$4 billion.”
The ADL said Monday that as a matter of policy it does not comment on legal threats.
Musk added: “To be super clear, I’m pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind.”
Animosity between Musk and the ADL dates back to last fall when Musk, the world’s richest person, took over the social media platform. Musk disbanded Twitter’s safety team and allowed back on neo-Nazis and antisemites. At the time, the ADL called for advertisers to boycott Twitter.
The clip of Jones was posted by @keithwoodsyt, a pseudonym for the far-right Irish activist Keith O’Brien who is leading an anti-ADL campaign on Twitter using the hashtag #BantheADL. The campaign claims the ADL is impeding freedom of speech by urging social media platforms to take action against neo-Nazis and other extremists who spread antisemitism, racism and other forms of bigotry.
Musk endorsed the effort last week.
Andrew Torba, the founder of Gab, a far-right social media platform, who is known for sharing antisemitic posts online, also endorsed the #BanTheADL hashtag.
In a statement last week in response to the campaign, the ADL said it was “unsurprised yet undeterred that antisemites, white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and other trolls have launched a coordinated attack on our organization. This type of thing is nothing new.” It added that the onslaught follows “a meeting with the leadership of X, formerly known as Twitter, that clearly upset these hateful groups.”
The ADL continues to pour money in Twitter’s coffers by advertising on the platform. The ADL “needs to be where the antisemites and extremists are,” a spokesperson told the Forward last month. “We need to be able to reach people.”
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