Large technology and media companies, including Apple, IBM, Disney, Lionsgate and Warner Bros, have decided to suspend advertising on X (formerly Twitter) after owner Elon Musk showed agreement with an anti-Semitic post on the microblogging site.
Apple's ads had reportedly appeared alongside tweets praising Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. More significantly, the move to halt advertising reflects concerns about the social media’s content moderation and the potential association of brand advertisements with inappropriate or offensive content.
Apple, a major advertiser on X, had been one of the social network's largest advertisers, spending as much as $100 million a year there as of November 2022, according to financial news agency Bloomberg.
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Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
Film studios Lionsgate, Warner Bros and Comcast/NBCUniversal announced a pause in advertising on X following the Musk controversy.
Additionally, The New York Times reported that Disney would also be suspending its advertising spending on the social media platform, reflecting broader industry concern about brand association with potentially inappropriate content on the platform.
"Lionsgate has suspended advertising on X because of Elon Musk's recent antisemitic tweets," a spokesperson for the motion picture production and distribution company told the news agency AFP.
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Musk came under criticism after reportedly tweeting agreement with an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. In response to a user on X who had attributed the rise in online anti-Semitism to Jews, accusing them of promoting "hatred against whites", Musk responded by saying, "You have said the actual truth."
The billionaire CEO’s endorsement of such content led to widespread condemnation and raised concerns about the potential amplification of hateful narratives on social media platforms.
IBM took the decision to pull its advertising from X on November 16, following a report by Media Matters that identified it as one of several prominent companies whose ads were displayed alongside tweets promoting antisemitism.
With agency inputs
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