Just hours after losing major advertisers on X thanks to his expressing support for antisemitic statements, Elon Musk slammed the departing companies as “the greatest oppressors,” of free speech while hawking the social media’s paid subscription service.
Major advertisers on X announced the suspension of marketing on the social media platform on Friday, coming after Musk faced backlash for agreeing with a post on X that glorified a deeply rooted antisemitic conspiracy theory, calling the bigoted statement “actual truth.” The advertisers pausing ads on the platform included Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, Sony, Lionsgate, Apple, and IBM.
On Friday night, however, Musk could be seen on X encouraging users to sign up for the platform’s paid subscription service, which would prevent ads from showing up in the timeline.
“Premium+ also has no ads in your timeline,” Musk wrote.
The billionaire owner of X continued “Many of the largest advertisers are the greatest oppressors of your right to free speech.”
Premium+ also has no ads in your timeline.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2023
Many of the largest advertisers are the greatest oppressors of your right to free speech. https://t.co/dVkTMaGV2b
Shortly after the mass advertiser exodus ensued, Musk posted on X that terms such as “decolonization” and “from the river to the sea” “imply genocide,” are against the platform’s terms of service and will result in suspension.
This was then reposted by Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt who offered a strangely timed message of support for Musk.
“This is an important and welcome move by @elonmusk,” Greenblatt wrote on X. “I appreciate this leadership in fighting hate.”
This is an important and welcome move by @elonmusk. I appreciate this leadership in fighting hate. https://t.co/N1tMHa1M1j
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 17, 2023
Musk threatened to sue the ADL only two months ago, placing blame on the organization for a severe dip in advertising revenue, which after today has certainly only become steeper.
On Thursday, Media Matters For America published a report which found advertisements from companies like IBM, Apple, Oracle and Xfinity alongside harmful content on X.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino attempted to quell concerns by posting on Thursday that “X’s point of view has always been very clear that discrimination by everyone should stop across the board — I think that’s something we can and should all agree on.”
