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  • Voltaire Staff

Elon Musk threatens to sue activist group over advertisers' exodus


Image Courtesy: Twitter.com


X owner Elon Musk on Saturday said he will soon be suing Media Matters, a US-based activist group, which single-handedly caused several businesses, including IBM and Apple, to suspend promotion of their brands on the site.


The not-for-profit had on Friday published a report claiming that X was showing ads of such firms as Apple, Bravo, Oracle, Xfinity, and alongside anti-semitic content.


The claims caused a virtual exodus beginning with IBM, which announced it was suspending promotion of its content on X.


Several other firms, including Apple, Disney, Comcast, Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount Global and Lions Gate Entertainment, also paused their online advertising campaigns on X, according to CNBC.


Musk in his post accused Media Matters of contriving an experiment by making an alternate account and curating posts that carry the fascist content to "misinform advertisers."


He alleged that Media Matters published the report to "undermine freedom of speech" and "mislead advertisers."


"The split second court opens on Monday, X Corp will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company," Musk said on X.


The Tesla owner, who has been under criticism since his takeover of X, formerly Twitter, by a section of users, said the attack on him was led by legacy media.


“Despite our clear and consistent position, X has seen a number of attacks by activist groups like Media Matters and legacy media outlets who seek to undermine freedom of expression on our platform because they perceive it as threat to their ideological narrative and those of their financial supporters," Musk added in a separate note he shared on X.


X's CEO Linda Yaccarino came in defence of the platform on Friday after the IBM move.


"When it comes to this platform -- X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There's no place for it anywhere in the world -- it's ugly and wrong. Full stop," Yaccarino said.

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