Jewish leaders rip X, accuse Musk of antisemitism

A group of Jewish leaders published a letter warning of the rise in antisemitic rhetoric on X, formerly Twitter, and placed responsibility largely on owner Elon Musk — whom they claimed has “facilitated and enabled” its growth.

Sarah Fortinsky
Tue, September 26, 2023

“X has become a breeding ground for antisemitism and represents one of the largest dangers to Jews in years,” the leaders warned in their letter. “If something does not change, we know what will happen: hate speech and radicalization are always the precursor to violence.”

The group consists of rabbis, academics, leaders of Jewish organizations and artists with “diverse ideologies and beliefs,” they wrote, adding “we have come together to address the danger Elon Musk and X represent to Jews and others.”

The organizer of the letter, Elad Nehorai, described the goal as twofold in a statement to The Hill: “To call out the fact that the story has been watered down and we insist it be told more accurately, as well as to push for advertisers and app stores to pull their support.”

The Jewish leaders specifically called on large advertisers like Disney, Apple and Amazon to stop paying for ads on the platform. They also called on Apple and Google to remove X from the application store.

The letter follows Musk’srecent targetingof the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) — a watchdog group fighting against hate speech and antisemitism — which Musk claimed was trying to “kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic.”

The tech billionaire threatened to file a lawsuit against the ADL for allegedly “destroying half the value of this company,” which he valued at $22 billion. He said the ADL “seems to be responsible for most of our revenue loss.”

His threats followed an ADL report that documented a rise in what they called “virulent antisemitism” on X after Musk rolled back some content moderation policies on the platform.

The Jewish leaders said they were “alarmed” by Musk’s targeting of the ADL, “not because of our views of the organization,” they wrote as the group holds a wide range of views, “but because of the way he has used the organization as a very clear stand in for an antisemitic representation of Jewish power.”

They pointed to several examples of what they described as antisemitic acts by Musk that they viewed as “egregious.”

First, they pointed to his participation in the hashtag #BanTheADL, which the letter noted was started by neo-Nazi figures. They criticized his engagement with and alleged promotion of antisemitic accounts, as well as his decision to reinstate “some of the most vicious antisemites in America and beyond.”

They also accused Musk of “spreading overt antisemitism, such as the false idea that ‘65% of Jewish college students support censorship,’” and of “engaging in antisemitic conspiracy theories, such as linking George Soros with the Rothschilds as well as the Great Replacement conspiracy theory.”

“Elon Musk has shown a refusal to back down from the danger he poses to Jews and other minorities and vulnerable communities. Appealing to him directly, as the ADL and others have, has been an abject failure,” the letter reads. “Outside pressure that hits him where it hurts is the only effective measure.

“Not doing so will mean the further spread of extremism and antisemitism,” the group continued. “Those don’t just threaten Jews: they threaten a free society and all those affected by the conspiracy theories tied to antisemitism.”

The Hill reached out to X for comment but received an automatic reply saying, “Busy now, please check back later.”