A major advertiser has put its cooperation with X (formerly Twitter) on hold, as platform owner Elon Musk faces calls to step down over alleged anti-Semitism. The billionaire has received backlash after he agreed with a user who many said was promoting ‘Great Replacement Theory,’ – one of the staples of far-right ideology in the US.
While Musk had previously been accused of tolerating anti-Semitic messages on X, the tech entrepreneur insisted that he does not espouse hatred of Jews. He did criticize Israel’s heavy-handed tactics in Gaza earlier this month, arguing that they were bound to create more terrorists in the long run.
On Wednesday, Musk wrote that an X user had “said the actual truth” when he accused Jewish communities of “hatred against whites.” The post, which the billionaire agreed with, went on to suggest that Jewish people are now “coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don’t exactly like them too much.”
Not long afterwards, IBM issued a statement saying it had “immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation.” The technology giant added that it “has zero tolerance for hate speech.”
The New York Times, citing internal messages, reported on Thursday that X employees had also been receiving calls from other advertisers with respect to Musk’s latest comment.
Attempting to control the damage, X chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, reportedly sent out a statement to staff members, reiterating that “X is a platform for everyone” and that “discrimination by everyone should STOP across the board.”
Meanwhile, the American Jewish Committee described the claim endorsed by Musk as part of the ‘Great Replacement Theory,’ according to which ethnic minorities are replacing white European populations.
Facebook cofounder and Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz called on Musk to resign from all his posts, with Tesla investor Ross Gerber writing that he had been receiving a “flood of messages from clients wanting out of Tesla and anything to do with Elon Musk.
Several other tech world personalities and journalists were also quick to accuse the Tesla CEO of promoting anti-Semitism.
Parrying similar allegations back in September, Musk claimed that he was in fact “aspirationally Jewish.”
Last week, the billionaire did, however, call into question Israel’s strategy in Gaza.
“If you kill somebody’s child in Gaza, you’ve made at least a few Hamas members who will die just to kill Israelis,” Musk argued on the Lex Fridman podcast.