Elon Musk calls Media Matters 'evil propaganda machine' ahead of lawsuit
Media Matters accused the social media platform of placing ads near antisemitic content
Elon Musk tells off advertisers who halt spending on X platform
The expletive-laden comments came during Musks appearance at The New York Times DealBook Summit. Credit: New York Times DealBook Summit
X CEO Elon Musk eviscerated the media watchdog Media Matters for America as an "evil propaganda machine" while discussing his upcoming lawsuit against them on Sunday.
The Tesla and X CEO came on an X Townhall in the Spaces feature which also included guests such as presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz.
At the 2:46:23 mark is when he made his comments about Media Matters and insisted the lawsuit will also target anyone funding the group.
"Media Matters is an evil propaganda machine. I just generally am against evil propaganda machines. We are suing them in every country that they operate. And we will pursue not just the organization, but anyone funding that organization. I want to be clear about that. Anyone funding that organization, we will pursue them. So Media Matters is an evil propaganda machine. They can go to hell. I hope they do," Musk said.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against Media Matters for America in November. (Kirsty Wigglesworth - WPA Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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A report from Media Matters in November alleged that X was placing ads next to pro-Nazi and antisemitic posts. Since the report, several advertisers, including IBM, Apple, Disney, Lionsgate and Paramount, have pulled advertising from the platform in a move that is expected to cost the company millions.
One day after the report went viral, Musk announced a "thermonuclear lawsuit" against Media Matters, insisting that they intentionally misled on the user experience.
"This week, Media Matters for America posted a story that completely misrepresented the real user experience on X, in another attempt to undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers," Musk wrote.
Several major companies have pulled ads from X following a report from Media Matters. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
"Above everything, including profit, X works to protect the public's right to free speech. But for speech to be truly free, we must also have the freedom to see or hear things that some people may consider objectionable. We believe that everyone has the right to make up their own minds about what to read, watch, or listen to — because that's the power of freedom of speech."
An executive at X previously told Fox Business the social media platform’s system was "not intentionally placing a brand actively next to this type of content, nor is a brand actively trying to support this content with placement."
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"Ads follow the people on X, in this case the Media Matters research that was going to actively look for this content – that’s how user targeting works," the X executive said. "As it relates to the platform itself, control settings are in place there for every user and every brand."
Musk and X executives have accused Media Matters of manipulating data to create a false report. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The executive also claimed groups like Media Matters "aggressively search for posts on X and then go to the accounts, and if they see an ad … keep hitting refresh to capture as many brands as possible."
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Fox Business' Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.
