The online platform X has sued the authors of a critical report that last week big advertisers like IBM, Apple and Disney frightened. The Twitter successor accuses the organization Media Matters for America of using targeted manipulation to ensure that advertisements from well-known companies appeared alongside Nazi posts and anti-Semitic statements. Media Matters boss Angelo Carusone (41) replied that his organization continued to stand by the report and was looking forward to winning in court.
No manipulation of past cases
Elon Musk’s company (52) claims in the lawsuit that Media Matters artificially created a situation in which the ads appeared next to posts of extremist content – for example by specifically selecting profiles and frequently updating the ad. However, the organization kept this secret and thus gave the impression that it had discovered the pairings. In similar allegations against Media Matters, other users were also able to find advertisements from well-known companies alongside extremist content without manipulation.
Advertisers demand content moderation
Companies and organizations have only limited influence over which posts their advertising is placed next to. The ads are shown based on age groups, specific areas or user interests. In order to avoid a negative environment for their brands, advertisers are primarily dependent on X consistently keeping hate speech off the platform – or at least not allowing any ads to be placed next to it. Otherwise, a user may scroll through an extremist account and be shown advertising based on their usual interests.
X’s headquarters are in San Francisco and its official headquarters are in Nevada – but Musk filed the lawsuit in Texas, a state where the government and large parts of the population hold very conservative views. At the same time, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (60), a well-known advocate of right-wing political views, initiated an investigation into Media Matters. Musk’s space company isn’t the only one in Texas SpaceX active, including the headquarters of the electric car manufacturer he runs Tesla He had it moved there from California.