On Saturday, Elon Musk threatened to sue watchdog Media Matters and those who “attacked” his social media platform X.
“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 wrote in a post on the X website, without naming the other parties.
Musk and X have been under scrutiny for more than a week due to anti-Semitic and racist content that has circulated on the social network since Musk purchased it in 2022.
Earlier this week, the liberal group Media Matters for America said it found ads from IBM, Apple and other companies placed next to content promoting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.
On Wednesday, Musk supported an anti-Semitic post by one of the users of the social network X, which claimed that members of the Jewish community were allegedly inciting hatred towards white people. This drew sharp condemnation, including from the White House, which accused Musk of repeating “disgusting anti-Semitic lies.â€
Over the past two days, many companies have suspended advertising, including IBM, Disney, Warner Bros Discovery and Comcast, Lions Gate Entertainment and Paramount Global. According to the media, the world’s largest company by market value, Apple, will do the same.
“This week Media Matters for America posted a story that completely misrepresented the real experience on X, in another attempt to undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers,” Musk said in a statement. He accused Media Matters of creating an alternative account designed to “misinform advertisers.â€
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 pic.twitter.com/55vl7PspaQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2023
In the past, Musk has threatened legal action against other organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a nonprofit organization that fights anti-Semitism. Musk accused her of helping deprive X of advertising revenue, but did not sue her.