X owner Elon Musk calls claims of anti-Semitism of platform 'absurd'
Musk called himself "aspirationally Jewish," claiming his Jewish friends haven't seen anti-Semitism on his social media platform.
Elon Musk on Thursday rejected accusations of negligence regarding content moderation and the rise of anti-Semitism since he became head of social media platform X.
Speaking at a forum titled “X, anti-Semitism, Faith and Free Speech” - moderated by right-wing Jewish journalist Ben Shapiro - Musk stated that anti-Semitic messages should not be deleted but rather confronted with “counter-arguments.” He noted his belief that anti-Semites who aren't presented with alternative viewpoints online “will just be closet anti-Semites, and that won't be enough.”
https://x.com/i/web/status/1707422272015724551
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Musk continued that the accusations of negligence regarding the moderation of anti-Semitic and racist content on the platform formerly known as Twitter were “absurd,” calling himself “aspirationally Jewish.”
“In some respects, I think I am Jewish, basically,” owing this claim to what he said was his large number of Jewish friends. “They use the X platform, and I’m like, ‘Do you guys see anything?’ And they’re like, ‘Nope,’” he said.
This comes after more than 120 Jewish activists signed a letter urging major advertisers to end their collaboration with X, owned by Elon Musk They describe it as “a breeding ground for anti-Semitism” which “represents one of the greatest threats to Jews in years.” The signatories also call on Apple and Google to remove the platform from their app stores, which would make X virtually inaccessible to the vast majority of mobile users.
This request comes after several weeks during which Musk interacted with white supremacists and published numerous messages targeting the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights organization that had criticized the removal of hate speech protections on the site. The ADL also called on advertisers to suspend their advertising spending on the platform last year, prompting Musk to threaten to to sue the organization for what he said had caused X's advertising revenues to drop.
"We have watched with horror as a new phase of anti-Semitic discourse spread at high speed on one of the largest social networks of America," said the letter, initiated by Elad Nehorai, a progressive Jewish activist. “All of this was facilitated and encouraged by its owner: Elon Musk.”