Elon Musk and the Neuralink Future
Elon Musk, the mercurial billionaire businessman, is now going after the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Musk says he might sue the organization because… well because he is not all there. Specifically, Musk is accusing the ADL of causing his Twitter to lose advertising money because the group has been protesting the social media for allowing the proliferation of anti-Semitic and racist posts.
Elon Musk charged that the ADL is “trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic.” He also alleged that Twitter’s US advertising revenue is down 60%, “primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that’s what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!”
Elon Musk posted on Twitter, “To clear our platform’s name on the matter of anti-Semitism, it looks like we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League … oh the irony!”
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“The ADL, because they are so aggressive in their demands to ban social media accounts for even minor infractions, are ironically the biggest generators of anti-Semitism on this platform!” said Musk.
In 2022 Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion. Since then, he has reversed the company’s policies on censoring hate speech and this is what the ADL has criticized.
And Elon Musk himself has even “liked” Twitter posts containing anti-Semitic content. One such post, made by self-described raging anti-Semite and Irish white nationalist Keith Woods that read, “The ADL’s favourite tactic is financially blackmailing social media companies into removing free speech on their platforms. Why should they have a platform on X to hold @elonmusk to ransom? It’s time to #BanTheADL.”
He also posted links to magazine articles critical of the ADL such as one in Tablet titled, “The Mind-Bendingly Insane, Completely Craven, Utterly Unconscionable Redemption of Al Sharpton. You’re not confused. The ADL Is Becoming as Bad as You Think.”
For its part, the ADL issued a statement saying that the organization wasn’t surprised by Elon Musk’s threats and that it is, “undeterred that anti-Semites, white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and other trolls have launched a coordinated attack on our organization.”
“This onslaught comes following our participation in the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington, where ADL proudly marched shoulder-to-shoulder with African-American leaders and those from other minority communities,” added the ADL. “It also follows a meeting with the leadership of X, formerly known as Twitter, that clearly upset these hateful groups. Such insidious efforts don’t daunt us. Instead, they drive us to be unflinching in our commitment to fight hate in all its forms and ensure the safety of Jewish communities and other marginalized groups.”
But there is, of course, a lot more to the story. By blaming ADL for his problems, Elon Musk sounds like the paranoid drug abuser that many insiders have described him as being. There are many reasons for Twitter’s recent revenue loses. But if he wants to find the main culprit here, perhaps Elon Musk should look in a mirror.
