Elon Musk sues over anti-Semitism allegations and blames the Israel lobby

Twitter boss
Elon Musk wants to sue allegations of anti-Semitism – and blames the Israel lobby for Twitter’s loss in value

The accusation of anti-Semitism weighs heavily not only in Germany. US corporations also generally try to avoid it. Elon Musk is considering drastic measures.

It should be a liberation. With the takeover The new owner promised Elon Musk that Twitter, now renamed X, would become the global marketplace for freedom of expression. But with the focus on free speech, there are also numerous allegations that the platform gives a stage to extremist campaigns and insults. Musk now wants to take action.

However, not by investigating the allegations – but by threatening those who make them with lawsuits. In a post on X on Monday, he expressed regret that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) repeatedly accused his platform of not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism. “In order to cleanse our platform’s name of allegations of anti-Semitism, we seem to have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League. Oh, how ironic,” he sneered in the post.

Serious allegations

But Musk wouldn’t be Musk if he didn’t up the ante. According to his advertisers, the ADL is responsible for the majority of the advertising losses that X has had to absorb since the takeover, Musk explained in a follow-up tweet. “In our case, they could be responsible for the loss of half the company’s value, which is $22 billion,” he explains. “Even with the most generous calculation, I assume that it is no less than ten percent, i.e. four billion dollars,” Musk says with certainty. He assumes that in the evidence-finding process in court, appropriate evidence should be found.

The ADL itself is quite controversial. The group, which belongs to the well-known pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC, has taken up the fight against anti-Semitism and other discrimination and repeatedly points out grievances. However, some critics see their understanding of anti-Semitism as too broad, accusing the ADL of wanting to prevent any criticism of the Israeli state. Even some Jewish groups are considered anti-Semitic by the organization.

Musk also feels wrongly persecuted. His short message service had received several reports of allegedly anti-Semitic content from the ADL, which the company did not see as a problem. However, some of his further remarks themselves are reminiscent of conspiracy myths – often essentially anti-Semitic. Advertisers are being pressured by the ADL, he claims, to stop advertising on the service. “But the break is permanent until the ADL gives the green light again.” But that only happens if you fully comply with their demands, he writes.

Freedom of speech or more discrimination?

It wasn’t just the ADL that noticed that Twitter, or X under Musk, has become much more open to hate. Under the guise of freedom of expression, Musk has reopened numerous accounts that had been banned for extremist opinions or defamatory attacks, from Islamist terrorist groups to right-wing extremists. In addition, he had significantly reduced the moderation teams. As a result, hatred on the platform increased significantly, according to an analysis by the New York Times. A lawsuit had even been filed in Berlin for inadequate action against Holocaust denial on the platform.

Musk doesn’t want to hear about it. Instead, he keeps getting involved himself by forwarding content from the far right bubble to his 155 million followers. He began his attack on the ADL by responding to a tweet by activist Keith O’Brien, who calls himself Keith Woods on Twitter. He had drummed for a ban on the organization under the hashtag #bantheADL, and campaigned for Musk to have the blocking requested by the ADL on Twitter. Musk stressed that he was open to it. It is not clear whether he knew who he was talking to. O’Brien has described himself as a “raging anti-Semite” in the past. And thanks to Musk, it was flushed into the timeline of an audience of millions.

Sources:Elon Musk on Twitter/X, New York Times