Elon Musk's social media platform X has sued a left-leaning pressure group that accused the site of allowing antisemitic posts next to advertising.
Elon Musk's social
media platform X has sued a left-leaning pressure group that accused the site
of allowing antisemitic posts next to advertising.
X's lawsuit
alleges that Media Matters for America "manipulated" data in an
attempt to "destroy" the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Firms including
Apple, Disney, IBM and Comcast have paused adverts on X since the watchdog
released its analysis.
After Mr Musk
threatened the lawsuit, Media Matters called him a bully.
The advocacy group
said last week that ads had appeared on X alongside posts supporting Nazism,
such as Hitler quotes and Holocaust denial.
Separately, Mr
Musk himself last week was accused of amplifying an antisemitic trope on the
platform.
The lawsuit, filed
in Texas on Monday, argues: "Media Matters knowingly and maliciously
manufactured side-by-side images depicting advertisers' posts on X Corp's
social media platform beside Neo-Nazi and white-nationalist fringe content and
then portrayed these manufactured images as if they were what typical X users
experience on the platform.
"Media
Matters designed both these images and its resulting media strategy to drive
advertisers from the platform and destroy X Corp."
Linda Yaccarino,
chief executive of X, posted on Monday: "Here's the truth. Not a single
authentic user on X saw IBM's, Comcast's, or Oracle's ads next to the content
in Media Matters' article."
In the wake of the
Media Matters allegations, the European Commission, Warner Bros Discovery,
Paramount and Lionsgate have also pulled ad dollars from X.
On Saturday, Mr
Musk vowed to file a "thermonuclear" lawsuit against Media Matters,
and anyone "who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company".
In response, Media
Matters president Angelo Carusone said they would win any legal action.
"Far from the
free speech advocate he claims to be, Musk is a bully who threatens meritless
lawsuits in an attempt to silence reporting that he even confirmed is
accurate," Mr Carusone said in a statement.
Founded in 2004,
Media Matters is known for its criticism of conservative commentators and media
outlets.
It describes
itself as a non-profit "progressive research and information center
dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative
misinformation in the US media".
Last Wednesday, Mr
Musk came under fire after he replied to a post sharing a conspiracy theory
accusing Jewish communities of pushing hatred against white people, calling it
"actual truth".
The billionaire
Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur later denied antisemitism, saying his comments
referred not to all Jewish people, but to groups like the Anti-Defamation
League, a Jewish anti-hate monitor.
Meanwhile, Texas
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Monday that he had opened an
investigation into Media Matters "for potential fraudulent activity"
over its allegations about X.
His office
released a statement calling the liberal group a "radical anti-free speech
organization".
Mr Paxton also
vowed to ensure that "the public has not been deceived by the schemes of
radical left-wing organizations who would like nothing more than to limit
freedom by reducing participation in the public square".
Also on Monday the
White House announced President Joe Biden would join Threads - the Meta-owned
rival to X.
Threads accounts
have also been created for the president, first lady, vice-president and second
gentleman.
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