Elon Musk threatens to sue Anti-Defamation League for defamation
- Elon Musk argues that accusations of anti-Semitism have led his social media platform X to lose revenue
- Musk, a self-proclaimed ‘free speech absolutist’, formally acquired Twitter for US$44 billion in late October 2022
X owner Elon Musk is threatening to sue the Anti-Defamation League for defamation, alleging the civil rights organisation has been trying to tank the social media platform since his takeover nearly a year ago.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk said the ADL - a nonprofit established to fight antisemitism and bigotry - is “trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic”.
The 52-year-old billionaire additionally noted that US advertising revenue on X is down 60 per cent and “based on what we’ve heard from advertisers, ADL seems to be responsible”.
“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,” the tech entrepreneur posted Monday night, “oh the irony!”
Musk formally acquired Twitter for US$44 billion in late October 2022. The Tesla tycoon and self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” took the once publicly traded company private, promising to scale back content moderation and revive accounts that have been booted from the website for policy violations.