Elon Musk has announced that he intends to sue the far-left organization Media Matters for America after it made what Musk described as an attempt to “undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers” on X.
On Thursday, Media Matters published an article claiming that the social media platform was placing ads for big-name companies like Apple, IBM and Comcast next to “pro-Nazi content.”
Immediately, the companies in question — along with Disney, Warner Bros., Lionsgate and Paramount — announced that they were pausing advertising on X, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Media Matters also accused Musk of endorsing “white nationalist and antisemitic conspiracy theories,” specifically the claim that Jewish people push “hatred against whites” and support mass illegal immigration.
Even the Biden administration got in on the act, Deadline reported.
“It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said on Friday, referring to the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.
“We condemn this abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans.”
The attacks sent Musk on a tear on Saturday.
“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,” he posted.
“Their board, their donors, their network of dark money, all of them …”
Their board, their donors, their network of dark money, all of them …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2023
Musk also issued a lengthy statement addressing Media Matters’ claims.
“This week Media Matters for America posted a story that completely misrepresented the real user experience on X, in another attempt to undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers,” he said.
The X owner went on to explain that Media Matters created an account, curated its feed, and then repeatedly refreshed the feed “to find a rare instance of ads serving next to the content they chose to follow.”
“These contrived experiences could be applied to any platform,” he said.
Musk alleged that Media Matters’ goal is to quash free speech.
“Above everything, including profit, X works to protect the public’s right to free speech,” he said.
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“But for speech to be truly free, we must also have the freedom to see or hear things that some people may consider objectionable. We believe that everyone has the right to make up their own minds about what to read, watch, or listen to.”
“X has seen a number of attacks from activist groups like Media Matters and legacy media outlets who seek to undermine freedom of expression on our platform because they perceive it as a threat to their ideological narrative. … These groups try to use their influence to attack our revenue streams by deceiving advertisers on X.”
Musk also noted that without free speech, democracy is doomed.
“As we’ve seen in some parts of the world, when free expression is taken away, it is very dangerous and hard to get back — that’s why the people who came before us fought so hard to protect [it].
“Without freedom of speech we lose the checks and balances critical to thriving democracy. We must defend our individual rights as of our lives, and flourishing society, depend on it.”
He concluded, “If you’re really in on protecting free speech, then we all need to protect it completely. Stand with X to protect free speech.”
