There's been plenty of drama between Elon Musk and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which may have just come to a head as Musk posted that he is threatening to sue. "To clear our platform’s name on the matter of anti-Semitism, it looks like we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League," Musk posted Monday night," adding "...oh the irony!"
To clear our platform’s name on the matter of anti-Semitism, it looks like we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League … oh the irony!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023
This comes after he also posted a response threatening such a lawsuit earlier in the day. The full thread is included below.
Who was questioning this?
— Penny2x (@imPenny2x) September 4, 2023
Our US advertising revenue is 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!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023
If this continues, we will have no choice but to file a defamation suit against, ironically, the “Anti-Defamation” League.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023
If they lose the defamation suit, we will insist that they drop the the “anti” part of their name, since obviously … 😂
Musk's post from earlier on Monday also indicated that if the ADL wins, "we will insist that they drop the the 'anti' part of their name, since obviously ..." as he then shared a laughing emoji.
Over at our sister site of RedState, Bonchie had a helpful analysis from earlier on Monday with regards to the feud between Musk and the group which has become increasingly leftist. Brian Pfail also had a column published in Townhall on Monday detailing the matter and providing some history on the ADL.
It's a common refrain from groups like the ADL that there's been an increase in hate speech since Musk took over the platform, which he's since renamed X. Musk has taken issue with such a claim, as Julio covered last December. The group also sought to pressure advertisers into boycotting the platform. Musk has posted insight about such a potential effect, saying it's led to revenue being down 60 percent in the United States.
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Jonathan Greenblatt, who serves as the director of the ADL, has also detailed how he's appealed to Linda Yaccarino, the new CEO. Replies remain locked on the post.
I had a very frank + productive conversation with @LindayaX yesterday about @X, what works and what doesn't, and where it needs to go to address hate effectively on the platform. I appreciated her reaching out and I'm hopeful the service will improve. @ADL will be vigilant and…
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) August 30, 2023
It was a post that Bonchie took note of and took issue with, writing:
Greenblatt speaks like he's a school principal disciplining a student. Who appointed him master of the universe, whereby he gets to have "frank" discussions with a private company about how it does business? To weaponize ad revenue against X based on nothing but his petty, partisan vendetta is gross. It's exactly the kind of left-wing bullying that has become all too common.
Still, Musk bears some responsibility for appointing a CEO in Linda Yaccarino, who appears to be more than willing to bend the knee to the ADL's attempts at corporate blackmail. When Twitter was owned by a board of far-left individuals, Greenblatt never had any complaints about the multitude of disgusting content on the site. In the end, the ADL's war against X really comes down to who gets to be the gatekeeper. Greenblatt and his left-wing allies do not want conservatives to be able to speak freely. That's what this is really about, not fighting actual anti-semitism, which existed on the site prior.
This is a group that looks to have become woefully unserious over the years, even when it could be spending more time fighting actual antisemitism. Some of the examples Townhall has covered include trying to warn about "stereotypes" for Halloween 2021, and changing the definition of racism in January of 2022. Brian's column has more examples of absurdities, as well as hypocrisy when it comes to their mission.
"#BanTheADL" has been trending for a bit now, but so has "Anti-Defamation League" and "Musk" in response to Musk threatening to bring a lawsuit.
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