I’ve been saying for a while now that Twitter is a cesspool of hate under Elon Musk. And this story from Forbes highlights not only how much hate is on the platform, but how that hate is driven by Elon himself. First some background:
In May, the ADL released a report after monitoring 65 previously banned accounts that Musk had welcomed back to the platform. It found that these accounts were posting antisemitic content and were actually having a compound effect by inspiring antisemitic content among their followers. The organization said it found over 5,000 examples from February 2023 of “virulent antisemitism” posted by 2,173 accounts that followed reinstated accounts. In March, the ADL released a different report revealing that X was not enforcing its own content moderation policies. It noted that 72% of antisemitic tweets that ADL reported as a so-called trusted flagger (an organizational partner that can report content and get it prioritized) were not removed or sanctioned in any way.
For those who aren’t aware, the ADL is the Anti Defamation League. This is an organization that has been fighting hate in all its forms for decades. And this is an organization that needs to be applauded for the work that it does to shine a light on hate in all its forms. But Elon doesn’t agree with that:
Musk has previously criticized the ADL, calling them in a tweet “so aggressive in their demands to ban social media accounts for even minor infractions” and “ironically the biggest generators of anti-Semitism on this platform!”
This is one of these moments where you have no words in terms of how to respond to such a statement. For Elon to say that in 2023 shows you what sort of person he really is. But he didn’t stop there. According to this story, he served these statements up:
“To be super clear, I’m pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind,” Musk said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.
Musk added that the ADL has helped to drive advertising revenue on the platform down. Revenue from advertising in the US is down 60%, according to Musk, and advertisers have told Musk that the ADL’s claims against X and Musk are part of the reason why.
Musk then threatened to file a defamation suit against the ADL.
Now Elon is known for saying stuff that he never does. But I can see a scenario where he sues the ADL. The reason why I say that is that a non profit group that called him out for hate speech got sued by Elon. Thus he only seems to sue the groups that that have the audacity to hold him accountable for his actions. Talk about a having a thin skin.
Also, let’s cover the fact that Elon claims to be against antisemitism. I’m going to call BS on that as his actions and behaviour don’t match that statement. An example of what I am talking about is this:
Musk made the comment after the hashtag #BanTheADL started trending on X over the weekend after the organization’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt shared a post on Wednesday about a positive conversation he had had with X CEO Linda Yaccarino about “what works and what doesn’t” on the platform.
Greenblatt’s post was swarmed by right-wing users who criticized the ADL CEO for promoting “censorship” on X and used the hashtag #BanTheADL.
Musk himself chimed in on the debate, and mulled starting a poll on banning the organization and liking posts with #BanTheADL.
Also on Monday, Musk accused the ADL of trying to “kill” his platform by accusing him and it of anti-semitism.
“Since the acquisition, the @ADL has been trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic,” Musk said.
Does this sound like someone who is against antisemitism? I say he’s encouraging it and only saying that that he’s against it because of the blow back that he’s getting.
This latest example of hate on Twitter/X highlights the fact that if you’re still on the platform, you need to leave. It’s bad enough that hate on the platform is at an all time high. But when the guy who owns the platform is helping to drive that hate to even higher levels, it becomes clear that anyone who is against hate of any kind needs to be someplace else. And if you’re advertiser who users Twitter/X as part of your marketing strategy, you need to reconsider how you spend your dollars as Twitter/X is not a place where I would want my marketing dollars spent given the level of hate that is present on the platform.
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This entry was posted on September 5, 2023 at 8:39 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Twitter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Elon Musk Goes After The ADL, But Claims He’s Not Antisemitic…. WTF????
I’ve been saying for a while now that Twitter is a cesspool of hate under Elon Musk. And this story from Forbes highlights not only how much hate is on the platform, but how that hate is driven by Elon himself. First some background:
In May, the ADL released a report after monitoring 65 previously banned accounts that Musk had welcomed back to the platform. It found that these accounts were posting antisemitic content and were actually having a compound effect by inspiring antisemitic content among their followers. The organization said it found over 5,000 examples from February 2023 of “virulent antisemitism” posted by 2,173 accounts that followed reinstated accounts. In March, the ADL released a different report revealing that X was not enforcing its own content moderation policies. It noted that 72% of antisemitic tweets that ADL reported as a so-called trusted flagger (an organizational partner that can report content and get it prioritized) were not removed or sanctioned in any way.
For those who aren’t aware, the ADL is the Anti Defamation League. This is an organization that has been fighting hate in all its forms for decades. And this is an organization that needs to be applauded for the work that it does to shine a light on hate in all its forms. But Elon doesn’t agree with that:
Musk has previously criticized the ADL, calling them in a tweet “so aggressive in their demands to ban social media accounts for even minor infractions” and “ironically the biggest generators of anti-Semitism on this platform!”
This is one of these moments where you have no words in terms of how to respond to such a statement. For Elon to say that in 2023 shows you what sort of person he really is. But he didn’t stop there. According to this story, he served these statements up:
“To be super clear, I’m pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind,” Musk said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.
Musk added that the ADL has helped to drive advertising revenue on the platform down. Revenue from advertising in the US is down 60%, according to Musk, and advertisers have told Musk that the ADL’s claims against X and Musk are part of the reason why.
Musk then threatened to file a defamation suit against the ADL.
Now Elon is known for saying stuff that he never does. But I can see a scenario where he sues the ADL. The reason why I say that is that a non profit group that called him out for hate speech got sued by Elon. Thus he only seems to sue the groups that that have the audacity to hold him accountable for his actions. Talk about a having a thin skin.
Also, let’s cover the fact that Elon claims to be against antisemitism. I’m going to call BS on that as his actions and behaviour don’t match that statement. An example of what I am talking about is this:
Musk made the comment after the hashtag #BanTheADL started trending on X over the weekend after the organization’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt shared a post on Wednesday about a positive conversation he had had with X CEO Linda Yaccarino about “what works and what doesn’t” on the platform.
Greenblatt’s post was swarmed by right-wing users who criticized the ADL CEO for promoting “censorship” on X and used the hashtag #BanTheADL.
Musk himself chimed in on the debate, and mulled starting a poll on banning the organization and liking posts with #BanTheADL.
Also on Monday, Musk accused the ADL of trying to “kill” his platform by accusing him and it of anti-semitism.
“Since the acquisition, the @ADL has been trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic,” Musk said.
Does this sound like someone who is against antisemitism? I say he’s encouraging it and only saying that that he’s against it because of the blow back that he’s getting.
This latest example of hate on Twitter/X highlights the fact that if you’re still on the platform, you need to leave. It’s bad enough that hate on the platform is at an all time high. But when the guy who owns the platform is helping to drive that hate to even higher levels, it becomes clear that anyone who is against hate of any kind needs to be someplace else. And if you’re advertiser who users Twitter/X as part of your marketing strategy, you need to reconsider how you spend your dollars as Twitter/X is not a place where I would want my marketing dollars spent given the level of hate that is present on the platform.
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This entry was posted on September 5, 2023 at 8:39 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Twitter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.