After ADL's CEO noted talking to X CEO Yaccarino last week, anti-Semitic X posts surged and #BanTheADL trended as Elon Musk replied to and liked far-right posts

Anti-Semitic rhetoric has been especially rampant on the platform over the past 24 hours. — Over the past 24 hours …

Mashable 2023-09-04 Matt Binder

Context & Ripple Effects

This episode sits against a documented rise in antisemitic activity on the platform after Musk’s acquisition: a March analysis found weekly antisemitic posts had more than doubled. It matters because a campaign aimed at the ADL coincided with visible engagement by X’s owner, making platform leadership part of the moderation and brand-safety dispute.

First-order effects

The ADL becomes the immediate target of a coordinated-looking on-platform backlash, while Jewish users and other affected communities face a more hostile posting environment.
Musk’s replies and likes attach X leadership directly to the controversy, increasing pressure on Yaccarino and X to demonstrate how abusive or hate-related content is handled.

Second-order effects

Advertisers and agencies must reassess whether X can keep their placements away from extremist content and high-profile disputes; that concern later surfaced when Apple paused X advertising after a separate antisemitism-related controversy.
The clash hardens the conflict between X and the ADL: Musk subsequently threatened a defamation suit against the group, shifting attention from content enforcement to legal and reputational confrontation.

Third-order effects

If leadership engagement repeatedly overlaps with hate-speech flare-ups, trust-and-safety becomes a commercial governance issue rather than a back-office moderation function, raising the cost of retaining advertisers and civil-society partners.
The pattern can also widen political scrutiny of how platforms monetize contentious material, as later reflected in lawmakers’ concerns about X and anti-Israel propaganda.

The trend: Major social platforms are increasingly being judged not only on moderation policies, but on whether executives’ own online behavior undermines those policies and advertiser confidence.

Discussion

@eladnehorai Elad Nehorai on threads
It might just be me, but I am kind of shocked that there was just a mainstream neo-Nazi movement that was the top trending discussion on Twitter, promoted by the richest man in the world and the owner of the platform, and spread by the mainstream right... And it isn't one of the …
@eladnehorai Elad Nehorai on threads
Elon Musk has officially joined and boosted the #BanTheADL hashtag, which was pushed to the top of the trending topics yesterday by neo-Nazis, white nationalists, and fascists. Specifically, he responded to Keith Woods, one of Twitter's loudest and proudest antisemites.
@coreyrayburnyung@mastodon … Corey Rayburn Yung on mastodon
Elon let thousands of actual Nazis back onto Xitter under his selective, BS “free speech” rationale. And now, he is taking a poll to see if the Anti-freakin'-Defamation League should be kicked off of Twitter?!?! Worse still, those thousands of Nazis will determine if the ADL st…
@NIH_LLAMAS@mastodon.social Nihl L'Amas on mastodon
Over on xitter, Musk is agreeing with (and probably paying money to) people who call the ADL a “radical left wing hate group”. — [image]
@moira@mastodon.murkworks.net @moira@mastodon.murkworks.net on mastodon
I know I go off on this over and over again, but people are still on #Twitter. — Twitter has LITERALLY the same function as The Daily Stormer now: promoting #fascism. — You think I'm exaggerating? This week, Musk was letting white nationalist/fascist ads run on the service, …
@rsynnott@mastodon.ie Rob Synnott on mastodon
I'm about 90% sure his attacks on the ADL are an attempt to distract himself from the fact that people have noticed that his absurd new car is hideous.
@deanobeidallah @deanobeidallah on x
Now bigot loving Elon musk intentionally incites anti- Semitism. I will not buy any product that advertises on this cesspool. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
@mattyglesias Matthew Yglesias on x
The ADL has various flaws but I do not believe they are “the biggest generators of anti-Semitism” on this platform or any other platform. [image]
@mattyglesias Matthew Yglesias on x
I think @elonmusk should delete that tweet, apologize, and then restate his disagreement with the ADL in more reasonable terms. I might even agree with him if he did, but the idea that they are “the biggest generators of anti-semitism” is absurd.
@jgreenblattadl Jonathan Greenblatt on x
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...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@KeithWoodsYT ADL has tried very hard to strangle X/Twitter
@lindayax Linda Yaccarino on x
@JGreenblattADL ... A strong and productive partnership is built on good intentions and candor. Thank you Jonathan.
@daithaigilbert David Gilbert on x
Musk responds once again to Irish far-right figure Keith Woods (real name Keith O'Brien) by claiming the ADL are the ones who generate the most antisemitism on his platform... Not, you know, all the far right extremists, neo-Nazis and anti-Semities who are now dominating Twitter …
@trhlofficial @trhlofficial on x
I don't think X should ban ADL. I think we should continue fighting their terrible speech with better speech. I do think X should dismiss ADL's erratic, manipulative, and everchanging pro-censorship propaganda and never consider their opinions on anything ever.
@ronfilipkowski Ron Filipkowski on x
Twitter now has a poll tax and apparently the ADL has the woke mind virus. [image]
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@WallStreetSilv Would be hilariously ironic for the Anti-Defamation League to lose a defamation lawsuit
@wajahatali Wajahat Ali on x
“Ban ADL"/"Soros funded..."/ “the deep state” are all anti semitic dog whistles used by white supremacists to promote a hateful conspiracy that has now radicalized individuals to commit violence against Jews and POC globally. The fact that Musk and GOP is all in with this...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@KeithWoodsYT Interesting
@schwarz @schwarz on x
Presumably when Elon Musk says “the ADL has done a lot of good work in prior decades” he's thinking of when the ADL viciously attacked Nelson Mandela in the 1980s and enthusiastically supported apartheid South Africa https://twitter.com/...
@eladnehorai Elad Nehorai on x
Elon Musk is doubling down on joining in with the neo-Nazi-led movement going after the ADL. This is now a campaign that's been going on for days, with massive amounts of antisemitism spread and made mainstream in the process.
@jakeshieldsajj Jake Shields on x
The head of the ADL meet with the head X to determine what is hate speech The ADL is a anti white hate group that believes saying it's okay to be white and white lives matter is hate speech [image]
@jaredlholt Jared Holt on x
Elon Musk has reached the “stop hitting yourself!” level of antisemitism, blaming Jews for the hatred they receive from others.
@adammaanit Adam Ma'anit on x
An American billionaire car manufacturer blaming Jews for antisemitism. Where have I have heard that before? [image]
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@stillgray @KeithWoodsYT Exactly
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@KeithWoodsYT The ADL, because they are so aggressive in their demands to ban social media accounts for even minor infractions, are ironically the biggest generators of anti-Semitism on this platform!
@keithwoodsyt Keith Woods on x
Alex Jones doesn't want to #BanTheADL because “they're the most pro-Hitler organisation I've ever seen” [video]
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Perhaps we should run a poll on this?
@marietjeschaake Marietje Schaake on x
Stop the right wing dog whistles, or should I say sirens, already ↘️
@mattbinder Matt Binder on x
over the past day on X: ➡️ ADL director says he had a meeting w/ X CEO ➡️ far right users attack w/ anti-semitic posts ➡️ Nick Fuentes helps trend #BanTheADL ➡️ Elon Musk signals support, liking posts from white nationalist ➡️ users start seeing this white supremacist ad on X: [i…
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@krassenstein Agreed on all. We're changing polls to allow votes only by verified users. That's critical to avoid polls getting bot-spammed on controversial issues. The ADL has done a lot of good work in prior decades, but has been overzealous in recent years & hijacked by woke m…
@evavlaar Eva Vlaardingerbroek on x
The fact that #BanTheADL is trending shows how done people are with the “we're labeling everything we don't like as hateful/racist/dangerous/far- right” BS. People aren't afraid of your intimidation tactics anymore, @JGreenblattADL. Your labels have lost their power.
@krassenstein Brian Krassenstein on x
You really have to make the option to only allow for blue checkmarks to participate in polls. I've noticed that the bot activity around polls are pretty extreme. As for the ADL I get that sometimes they over-label things. With that said, there has been a lot accomplished over the…
@esqueer_ Alejandra Caraballo on x
The neo nazi problem on here is so bad, a top trend is ban the ADL which is filled with vile anti-Semitic rhetoric and conspiracy theories. It's stuff you used to only see on fringe sites. This anti-Semitism is being normalized and it's extremely dangerous. [image]
r/EnoughMuskSpam r on reddit
Elon Musk ‘likes’ trending #BanTheADL posts as white supremacist ad runs on platform
r/Liberal r on reddit
Twitter and Musk directly support anti-semitism

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