In a tweet late Friday night, Elon Musk, the CTO of social media platform X, threatened to file a lawsuit against Media Matters and others for what he called a “fraudulent attack” on their company. This came after a report last week from Media Matters for America (MMFA) showed ads for mainstream brands on X running alongside user posts espousing pro-Nazi views.
Following the report, advertisers such as Apple, Comcast/NBC Universal, Disney, IBM, Lions Gate, Paramount Global, and Warner Bros. Discovery decided to pause their ad spending on X. Musk then promoted a paid, ad-free subscription version of X in a tweet after the news of suspended campaigns surfaced.
The social media platform’s spokesperson, Joe Benarroch, emailed a company blog post alleging that Media Matters had misrepresented the real user experience of X and deliberately followed sensitive accounts to curate posts and misinform advertisers about the placement of their posts.
While other social networks like Facebook, Reddit, and TikTok also face brand safety and moderation challenges, X has drawn attention for promoting bigoted viewpoints in Musk’s own tweets.
Musk’s recent tweets promoting antisemitic and racist content have prompted harsh criticism, with even the White House admonishing him for his actions. Later on, Musk declared a new policy for his social network, promising to suspend accounts engaging in what he views as genocidal speech.
Despite the threats of a lawsuit from Musk, Media Matters president Angelo Carusone firmly stated that they will win if a lawsuit is filed. It remains unclear whether or when X Corp. will file a suit against Media Matters, or in which jurisdiction.
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