Elon Musk Suing ADL: X Owner Threatens Litigation Over Loss of Ad Sales
Key takeaways
- Elon Musk is threatening to sue the Anti-Defamation League for…defamation
- He claims the nonprofit has throttled ad sales revenue
- The ADL CEO has met with new X CEO Linda Yaccarino to make headway
A series of snarky comments have been swapped between X owner and billionaire Elon Musk and the CEO of nonprofit the Anti-Defamation League, with Musk threatening to sue the organization for lost ad sales revenue. Is there any truth to the allegations? Let’s take a closer look at the details.
What’s happening with Musk and the ADL?
Another day, another threat to sue from X owner Elon Musk. Ever heard of the Anti-Defamation League? It’s an international nonprofit organization to combat antisemitism and extremism, which has had X in its crosshairs for alleged increased antisemitism on the platform since Musk took over as owner.
Now, Elon has claimed that X may have “no choice but to file a defamation suit” against the ADL. Posting on X, Musk claimed that the company’s U.S. advertising revenue was “still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that’s what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!”.
That’s a bold claim to make publicly. Since that statement, Musk has replied to or liked a series of posts criticizing the organization.
The ADL has previously published reports that allegedly show increased anti-Semitic messages on the website. The report’s data revealed “both an increase in antisemitic content on the platform and a decrease in the moderation of antisemitic posts”.
Could it really happen?
We wouldn’t put anything past Elon. In August, X sued a similar nonprofit, the CCDH, in a federal court, alleging the organization illegally got hold of data from X to present the platform as “overwhelmed with harmful content”.
However, the ADL’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, said in August that he had met with X’s new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, to discuss a path forward. While he “appreciated her reaching out and [is] hopeful the service will improve”, Greenblatt also said he “reserved the right” to call out Musk and Yaccarino until things improved.
The 60% drop in ad sales, confirmed by Musk in the post, is a little steeper than Musk has previously publicly stated. In July, he posted that X’s cash flow remains negative and that the platform had seen a 50% drop in ad revenue.
The bottom line
For Elon Musk, advertising revenue is a serious black hole in X’s financial position. Whether there’s any truth to the ADL’s influence on advertisers or not, it’s yet another legal scrap X has embroiled itself in.
