Elon Musk Threatens X Corp ‘Thermonuclear Lawsuit’ against Media Matters and Advertisers for Fake Ad Scenarios
According to Musk, X Corp will sue Media Matters and several others for a fake plot to paint the social media company as problematic.
X (formerly Twitter) owner and Chairman Elon Musk has threatened to file a lawsuit against major advertisers and Media Matters for America (MMfA) for pausing ads on X and allegedly misrepresenting the company’s position on free speech. Musk said the company will file a lawsuit first thing today.
In a post published Saturday, the X Chairman stated:
“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… Their board, their donors, their network of dark money, all of them…”
The issue began when Media Matters published a report last week. In the report, Media Matters showed X ads for major brands running with posts supporting Nazi sentiments. In response to the Media Matters report, several major advertisers paused ad spending on X. Advertisers like Comcast/NBC Universal, Disney, Apple, IBM, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global, and Lions Gate all suspended existing ad campaigns.
Musk Details Fake Media Matters Scenarios
Musk’s post included an image that explained the problem between Media Matters and X. According to Musk, Media Matters created an alternate X account and used it to curate posts and advertisements. They then used this to misinform the public about post-placement. Musk insists that “these contrived experiences could be applied to any platform.”
Musk said Media Matters repeatedly refreshed their timelines to happen on a rare instance of ads placed alongside harmful content they had chosen to follow. He then pointed out that the scenario Media Matters generated resulted in 13 times more ads than the median number of ads served to an average X user. Also, Musk noted that of the 5.5 billion X ad impressions on that day, less than 50 total ad impressions ran along with the content Media Matters highlighted in its report.
The X chairman revealed that in one scenario, an ad reported in the Media Matters article ran alongside a particular post only 2 times and was only seen by 2 users in total, one of which was the author of the article. In another scenario, two ads ran with 2 posts 3 times and were only seen by one user, the article’s author.
Musk highlighted these incidents, pointing out the unlikelihood of each scenario. He also said that of nine posts Media Matters believes X should not permit, only one violates the company’s policies. He added that X has already taken appropriate action on the erring post.
Musk Accused of Antisemitism
The incident happened after Musk agreed with an X post that accused Jewish communities of promoting “hatred against whites.” The White House also criticized Musk for his comment. In a statement, 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.”
Several other social media sites have been repeatedly castigated for problematic views. However, Musk has received repeated criticism for his personal opinions on X.
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