NEW YORK, United States — Elon Musk, owner of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has said he plans to sue a prominent anti-defamation group, arguing that his accusations of anti-Semitism have led the company to lose revenue.

Musk on Monday night accused the US-based Jewish organization of filing baseless complaints against him and X that spooked advertisers.

“To clear the name of our platform on the issue of anti-Semitism, it seems that we have no choice but to file a defamation suit against the Anti-Defamation League… oh how ironic! Musk wrote about X on Monday.

“From what we’ve heard from advertisers, ADL appears to be responsible for most of our lost revenue,” he wrote, adding that the group “would potentially be responsible for destroying half of the enterprise value, or about $22″. billion.”

“Advertisers avoid controversy, so all it takes for the ADL to crush our ad revenue in the US and Europe is to make unfounded accusations,” he wrote in a lengthy thread that began with a clarification that he was in favor of free speech but “against anti-Semitism.” of any kind.”

The ADL declined to comment on Musk’s legal threats, but responded to the “BanTheADL” hashtag that was trending on the website.

Musk, who bought Twitter last year and renamed it X, has come under fire for liking posts with the hashtag.

“It is deeply disturbing that Elon Musk spent the weekend waging a highly toxic anti-Semitic campaign on his platform,” ADL chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt said in an email to AFP.

“This behavior is not only alarming or reckless, it is downright dangerous and deeply irresponsible. »

The hateful campaign began after the ADL took part in a civil rights march marking the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, according to the group.

The ADL has for years accused the social network of amplifying anti-Semitic hate speech and recently met with senior X executives.

In a 2016 report, the group said anti-Semitic attacks on journalists had exploded on Twitter, “thanks to the rhetoric of the 2016 presidential campaign”.

He accuses the social network of failing to control his “trolling problem”.

Billionaire Musk has also been accused of fueling anti-Semitic tropes, including attacks on Jewish philanthropist George Soros.

According to the ADL and the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), problematic and racist speech has risen sharply on X since Musk completed its $44 billion buyout in October.

The Tesla boss has since fired thousands of platform employees, removed content moderation and reinstated former President Donald Trump’s account.

Last month, Musk sued CCHR, accusing it of a smear campaign that damaged the social network’s relationship with advertisers.

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