Numerous prominent companies halted their advertising on X last Friday, dealing a severe blow to Elon Musk’s social media business reputation. This occurred following Musk’s recent public endorsement of a conspiracy theory aligned with White nationalists and containing antisemitic elements.
Leading global media entities, including Disney, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Comcast, Lionsgate, and Warner Bros. Discovery (the parent company of CNN), participated in the high-profile advertising boycott. Notably, Apple, as reported by various news agencies, including Axios, also seemingly withdrew its advertising support from X.
Despite calls for a response, Apple has maintained silence on the matter. This widespread departure from X, formerly known as Twitter, is a growing response to Musk’s vocal support for radical ideologies, raising concerns about the platform’s sustainability.
The advertising freeze followed IBM’s decision on Thursday to take a similar stance. Media Matters, a progressive media watchdog organization, had released a study revealing that ads for IBM and other major corporations appeared alongside content supporting the Nazi party on X. IBM swiftly responded by suspending all advertising on the platform, denouncing the situation as “entirely unacceptable.”
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In a blog post addressing the mass exodus on Saturday, X accused Media Matters of conducting “aggressive searches for pro-Nazi content,” challenging the accuracy of their findings. Musk hinted at the possibility of suing Media Matters, a claim to which the organization’s president responded confidently, stating they would prevail if such legal action were pursued.
Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, asserted the company’s commitment to combatting antisemitism and discrimination in a social media post on Friday. Musk, in alignment with this sentiment, emphasized that advocating genocide against any group is grounds for a ban on X.
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Media Matters, in a previous investigation, found that ads for Apple, Comcast, NBC, and Oracle had appeared alongside similar objectionable content. Oracle has yet to comment on the matter. X declared that pro-Nazi accounts identified in the investigation would no longer be eligible for monetization, meaning ads would no longer be placed on those sites.
The Internet and Television Association (NCTA) and Gilead Sciences had previously suspended advertising on X in August due to their ads being displayed next to extremist material.
