Elon Musk was charged by the White House with spreading wrong antisemitic claims on his social networking platform X. In reaction to a post by Musk, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said, “It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of Antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
The public’s outrage at unverified antisemitic discussion and content on X, supported by Musk, reached a breaking point. According to a media house, the White House chastised the billionaire, and major advertisers including Apple Inc. pulled their ads.
Musk, who interacts with antisemitic users on X regularly, agreed with a post stating that Jews have a “dialectical hatred” for white people. “You have spoken the truth,” Musk retorted.
The media house added that several Tesla shareholders have expressed their disapproval of Musk, with some arguing that he ought to be removed from his position.
Musk’s comments exacerbated the outcry prompted by a study published by Media Matters that featured advertisements for pro-Nazi content next to those for Apple, International Business Machines Corp., Oracle Corp., Comcast Corp.’s Xfinity brand, and the Bravo television network running on X. IBM declared that it will cease running advertisements on X until the issue is fixed. Both Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and the European Commission declared they will stop running advertisements on X.
One of the major investors X, Apple, announced that it will no longer be running advertisements on the platform. The relationship between the two companies was already strained.
Apple also temporarily stopped advertising after Musk took over the social network last year, causing a wave of layoffs and policy changes. By hinting that he might violate Apple’s App Store policies to stop paying fees, Musk heightened tensions.
Late last year, Musk and Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, had a meeting at the company’s headquarters where they repaired their fractured association. Musk claimed in December that Apple had “fully resumed” using Twitter for advertising.
Cook has previously referred to X as an “important property,” but he has stated that he disapproves of the allegedly rising antisemitic discourse that has occurred since Musk assumed leadership. According to him, the Cupertino, California-based business “constantly” considers whether to keep running advertisements.
Earlier on Friday, Axios revealed that Apple is putting an end to its X ads.
Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino stated on the platform on Thursday, “There’s no place for it anywhere in the world — it’s ugly and wrong. Full stop.”
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