10,000 people sign Christian group petition condemning Elon Musk’s ADL attacks
Letter from Faithful America calls on Musk to tamp down hate speech on the X platform
A Christian group is calling on Elon Musk to stop attacking the ADL. Photo by Carina Johansen/NTB/AFP via Getty Images
By Beth Harpaz October 2, 2023
More than 10,000 people are supporting a progressive Christian organization’s demand that Elon Musk tamp down hate speech and stop attacking the ADL on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Let’s join together as a Christian community to denounce his attacks on ADL, call attention to his mismanagement of hatred on Twitter/X, and ask corporate advertisers to take action now,” reads the online petition organized by Faithful America, which describes itself as the largest online community of grassroots Christians dedicated to social justice.
“It’s sadly true that Christians have been complicit in, and far too often, led the way in perpetuating antisemitism throughout history — which means we have an important role to play in fighting this white supremacist hatred,” the organization wrote.
Since Musk bought Twitter a year ago, the platform has reinstated thousands of accounts that had been banned for promoting hate speech, and has significantly reduced its content moderation operations. As a result, posts featuring antisemitism and other forms of bigotry have proliferated, prompting the ADL to ask advertisers to boycott the site.
Faithful America is also now asking advertisers to boycott X because of the uptick in extremism.
Faithful America said its petition was prompted by a Sept. 26 letter from more than 150 Jewish leaders warning that X had become a “breeding ground for antisemitism and represents one of the largest dangers to Jews in years.” That letter from the Jewish group, which included rabbis, activists and academics, added: “If something does not change, we know what will happen: hate speech and radicalization are always the precursor to violence.”
Faithful America’s executive director, the Rev. Nathan Empsall, wrote in an email to the Forward: “We can’t sit idly by with antisemitism on the rise, and no mainstream social media platform is worse than Musk’s. On his watch, Twitter/X has allowed, endorsed and downplayed a disgustingly explosive growth in antisemitism and white supremacy. We know that hate speech online turns into violence offline, yet Musk does nothing but fan the flames. This petition is part of Faithful America’s ongoing effort to pressure people in power — people like Musk — to take responsibility for their role in perpetuating violence and hate.”
In September, Musk said on X that its U.S. ad revenue was down 60% “primarily due to pressure on advertisers” from the ADL. Musk has also said that the ADL’s demand for sanctions on bigotry hinders free speech. The tech billionaire even joined a #BantheADL campaign, amplifying posts by white supremacists, and he threatened to sue the ADL for defamation.
Now, in a separate incident, Musk himself faces defamation accusations. Ben Brody, a 22-year-old Jewish man from California, sued Musk for promoting a conspiracy theory about him.
Musk amplified right-wing trolls who falsely claimed that Brody was a government agent at a neo-Nazi protest. Brody filed the lawsuit Monday, saying he said he and his family had to go into hiding as a result of antisemitic harassment, threats and the public posting of his address.
Brody was at a baseball game in California when the protest took place in Oregon. The lawsuit said Musk “falsely told the world that Ben Brody participated in a violent street brawl on behalf of a neo-Nazi extremist group.” Musk’s post accused Brody of being part of a “false flag situation.”
The lawsuit was filed by the firm Farrar & Ball, which won $45 million from Alex Jones for two parents whose children were murdered in the Sandy Hook shooting. For years, Jones falsely promoted conspiracy theories claiming the shooting never happened.
A request for comment from X’s press office was responded to within seconds with an automated email that read, “Busy now, please check back later.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
