Elon Musk's X has reportedly lost all International Business Machines Corporation's advertisements after the company's ads appeared alongside content promoting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.
IBM announced the company's advertisement suspension on X after it had known of a report by Media Matters, a group described by Forbes as "a left-leaning media watchdog group," discovered antisemitic content placed with corporate advertisements from IBM, Apple, Oracle, and Comcast's Xfinity.
Reuters states that IBM says that it "has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation.
(Photo : CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)
This photo illustration shows the X logo (formerly Twitter) on a smartphone screen in Los Angeles, California, on July 31, 2023.
Forbes has reported on the matter, stating that Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, said in a post-Thursday afternoon, "X's point of view has always been obvious that discrimination by everyone should STOP across the board," adding that X has "been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination."
"When it comes to this platform - X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There's no place for it anywhere in the world - it's ugly and wrong. Full stop," Yaccarino went on to say.
X stated that its system does not position brands "actively next to this kind of content," and the content mentioned by Media Matters will no longer be able to profit from its posts.
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Musk's Support on an Antisemitic Post
The ad suspension by IBM follows after Musk faced backlash expressing support for an antisemitic conspiracy theory. Musk reacted to a post on X on Wednesday blaming Jews of "pushing... dialectical hatred against whites," stating, "You have said the actual truth."
The user's comments linked Jewish communities to the promotion of hatred against whites, blaming them for supporting "hordes of minorities" entering their countries, as per Tech Times.
According to ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, "at a time when antisemitism is exploding in America and surging around the world, it is indisputably dangerous to use one's influence to validate and promote antisemitic theories."
Antisemitism has been on the increase in the United States and across the world in recent years. According to the ADL, antisemitic occurrences in the United States increased about 400% from the previous year following the commencement of conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, which invaded Israel on October 7. Anti-Semitic and hate-filled tweets skyrocketed in the weeks after Musk's purchase of Twitter.
X's Ads vs. Twitter's Ads
Forbes reports that since Musk bought the social media firm last October, it has battled to keep advertisers at amounts comparable to those seen when it was Twitter.
Yaccarino has since stated that most of the platform's top advertisers have returned, although according to another Media Matters investigation, many are spending far less. Yaccarino mentioned Visa as a recurring client, but Media Matters discovered it spent only $10 in 12 weeks, compared to nearly $77,500 in 12 weeks before Musk controlled the platform.
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