Advertisers are fleeing social media platform X over concerns about their ads showing up next to pro-Nazi content and hate speech on the site in general, with billionaire owner Elon Musk inflaming tensions with his own posts endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
IBM said this week that it stopped advertising on X after a report said its ads were appearing alongside material praising Nazis 鈥� a fresh setback as the platform formerly known as and their ad dollars, X's main source of revenue.
The liberal advocacy group Media Matters said in a report Thursday that ads from Apple, Oracle, NBCUniversal's Bravo network and Comcast also were placed next to antisemitic material on X.
鈥淚BM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation," the company said in a statement.
Apple, Oracle, NBCUniversal and Comcast didn't respond immediately to requests seeking comment on their next steps.
The European Union's executive branch said separately Friday it is pausing advertising on X and other social media platforms, in part because of a surge in hate speech. Later in the day, Disney, Lionsgate and Paramount Global also said they were suspending or pausing advertising on X.
Musk sparked outcry this week with his own tweets responding to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism. 鈥淵ou have said the actual truth,鈥� Wednesday.
Musk has faced accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on the platform since purchasing it last year, and the content on X has gained increased scrutiny since began.
鈥淲e condemn this abhorrent promotion of Antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans,鈥� White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said Friday in response to Musk's tweet.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino said X's 鈥減oint of view has always been very clear that discrimination by everyone should STOP across the board."
"I think that鈥檚 something we can and should all agree on,鈥� she tweeted Thursday.
Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal executive, was hired by Musk to who fled after he took over, concerned that his easing of content restrictions was allowing hateful and toxic speech to flourish and that would harm their brands.
鈥淲hen it comes to this platform 鈥� X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There鈥檚 no place for it anywhere in the world 鈥� it鈥檚 ugly and wrong. Full stop," Yaccarino said.
The accounts that Media Matters found posting antisemitic material will no longer be monetizable and the specific posts will be labeled 鈥渟ensitive media," according to a statement from X. Still, as 鈥渁n evil organization.鈥�
The head of the Anti-Defamation League also this week, in the latest clash between the prominent Jewish civil-rights organization and the billionaire businessman.
鈥淎t a time when antisemitism is exploding in America and surging around the world, it is indisputably dangerous to use one鈥檚 influence to validate and promote antisemitic theories," ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said on X.
this week that he was 鈥渄eeply offended by ADL鈥檚 messaging and any other groups who push de facto anti-white racism or anti-Asian racism or racism of any kind.鈥�
The group has previously accused Musk of allowing antisemitism and hate speech to spread on the platform and amplifying the messages of neo-Nazis and white supremacists who want to ban the ADL.
The European Commission, meanwhile, said it鈥檚 putting all of its social media ad efforts on hold because of an 鈥渁larming increase in disinformation and hate speech鈥� on platforms in recent weeks.
The commission, the 27-nation EU's executive arm, said it is advising its services to 鈥渞efrain from advertising at this stage on social media platforms where such content is present," adding that the freeze doesn't affect its official accounts on X.
The EU has taken a tough stance with new rules to clean up social media platforms, and last month it made a about its handling of hate speech, misinformation and violent terrorist content related to the Israel-Hamas war.
X isn't alone in dealing with problematic content since the conflict.
On Thursday, TikTok removed the hashtag #lettertoamerica after users on the app posted sympathetic videos about Osama bin Laden鈥檚 2002 letter justifying the terrorist attacks against Americans on 9/11 and criticizing U.S. support for Israel. The Guardian news outlet, which published the transcript of the letter that was being shared, took it down and replaced it with a statement that directed readers to a news article from 2002 that it said provided more context.
The videos garnered widespread attention among X users critical of TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance. TikTok said the letter was not a trend on its platform and blamed an X post by journalist Yashar Ali and media coverage for drawing more engagement to the hashtag.
The short-form video app has faced criticism from Republicans and others who say the platform has been failing to protect Jewish users from harassment and pushing pro-Palestinian content to viewers.
TikTok has aggressively pushed back, saying it鈥檚 been taking down antisemitic content and doesn鈥檛 manipulate its algorithm to take sides.
____
AP Technology Writer Matt O'Brien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this story.
Kelvin Chan And Haleluya Hadero, The Associated Press
