Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company is evaluating if advertising on X (formerly Twitter) is appropriate as X CEO Elon Musk has been accused of promoting antisemitism on the platform. In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Cook opened admitted that the question of whether or not it’s appropriate to continue advertising on X is “something that we ask ourselves.”
He added, “Generally, my view is Twitter’s an important property. I like the concept that it’s there for discourse and there as a town square. There’s also some things about it I don’t like!”
When asked directly about antisemitism on the platform, Cook said, “Yeah, which is abhorrent. Just point blank, there is no place for it.”
Cook’s comments come as X has struggled to maintain advertisers following Musk’s takeover. Musk has made moves to help matters, like sharing ad revenue with creators to keep big names using his platform, thereby drawing attention to it. Ben and Jerry’s pulled advertising from X in June due to the proliferation of hate speech on the site.
In early September, Musk announced plans to sue the Anti-Defamation League for allegedly falsely accusing Musk and the platform of antisemitism. He explained 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!”
More recently, it was announced Sunday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet privately with Musk. The official reason given for their meeting is to discuss artificial intelligence, but some have speculated that claims of antisemitism might also be part of the motive.
In May, the Israeli Foreign Ministry defended Musk after he was accused of being antisemitic following comments he made about George Soros.
