Disney cuts ties with X over anti-Semitic rhetoric

disney There is no longer advertising on X, formerly known as Twitterafter the owner Elon Musk fueled an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on the platform, according to the New York Times.

Disney’s decision to suspend advertising with X follows watchdog group report Media issueswhich found that ads from brands like Apple, Bravo and Amazon had appeared on X alongside white nationalist hashtags like #WLM (White Lives Matter) or #KeepEuropeWhite.

Following this report, X’s advertisers, Apple, Lionsgate and IBM, decided to cut ties with the platform, according to axios. In a statement, IBM said it has “zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination, and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this totally unacceptable situation.”

Concern over brand safety at X has skyrocketed following anti-Semitic comments made by Musk, who on Wednesday answered to a post by an The Musk-backed post echoed the Great replacement theory, a racist and anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that posits that Jews are responsible for bringing non-white people to the United States to “replace” white people. The theory has sparked a series of racist and anti-Semitic attacks, including the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue attack and the 2022 Buffalo supermarket attack. mass shooting that killed 10 people.

Musk then doubled down on his statement, saying that Jewish promotion of “anti-white racism” “does not extend to all Jewish communities, but it is also not limited to just [the Anti-Defamation League],” the nonprofit organization fighting anti-Semitism. Musk previously threatened sue the ADL after it published a report in May accusing the platform of turning a blind eye to “virulent anti-Semitism” by reestablishing well-known anti-Semitic and white nationalist accounts.

The billionaire has repeatedly denied that he is anti-Semitic, saying in a mail responding to the ADL that it is “in favor of free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind.” X CEO Linda Yaccarino has also repeatedly tried reassure advertisers and users that the platform does not tolerate hate speech against Jews or any other minority, stating in a tweet on November 16: “When it comes to this platform, X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat anti-Semitism.” and discrimination. There is no place for it anywhere in the world: it is ugly and wrong. Final point”.

Yaccarino’s publication. caused widespread ridicule about. “I don’t really see the fight against anti-Semitism on a website owned by a man who regularly agrees with posts that say Jews are evil,” one response read.