Destroying Elon Musk’s social media company X with a lawsuit against Media Matters for America (Journal P.S. 15 December 2015)
The company is working to create a platform for everyone. There is no other platform that works as hard to protect free speech as X. The fact that we are doing something matters, invites criticism from those who do not share our beliefs.
As pressure mounts for the company to distance itself from supporting antisemitism, Forbes reported that advertisers are urging Yaccarino to resign as well. A former NBCUniversal chairperson with close ties to the ad industry was brought into Musk’s company to restore their relationships with companies that make up the majority of X’s revenue. Advertisers were already concerned their paid content would show up next to antisemitic or otherwise bigoted posts, but they’re especially worried now, when the platform’s owner seems to be actively stoking conspiracies about the Jewish community.
We can keep putting our values to work if we lean on one another. I will see you all at the office tomorrow and I am proud to be on the front line with you.
According to Semafor, X’s political advertising business was put on hold due to the “temporarily paused investments of what previously were some of the company’s biggest clients.” However, Yaccarino has enlisted her son Matt Madrazo to replant the business, in hopes of
Elon Musk’s social media company X filed a lawsuit against liberal advocacy group Media Matters for America on Monday, saying it manufactured a report to show advertisers’ posts alongside neo-Nazi and white nationalist posts in order to “drive advertisers from the platform and destroy X Corp.”
IBM, NBCUniversal and their parent company, Comcast stopped advertising on X after a report said their ads were next to material praising Nazis. It was a new blow to the platform as they try to get back big brands and their ad dollars.
X’s complaint claims that Media Matters manipulated algorithms on the platform to create images of advertisers’ paid posts next to racist, incendiary content. The juxtapositions were manufactured and rare, according to the complaint.
Nearly simultaneously, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation into Media Matters for “potential fraudulent activity.” On his account, Musk said that fraud has both civil and criminal penalties. Musk had previously responded to a tweet by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller that suggested conservative attorneys general (like Paxton) look into fraud charges.
Musk has also sparked outcry this month with his own posts responding to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism. “You have said the truth,” Musk said in his reply.