Elon Musk blames Anti-Defamation League for fall in X Corp’s US ad sales

livemint.com:

Elon Musk has blamed the Anti-Defamation League for a fall in US advertising revenue on the social media platform. In a series of posts on Monday, Musk said that ad sales are still down 60% “primarily due to pressure on advertisers" mounted by the Anti-Defamation League. Musk said that the ADL was trying to kill the social media platform since he acquired it in October last year, by “falsely accusing" it and him of being anti-Semitic.

Reports of harassment and extremist content on X have spiked since Musk’s takeover, the Anti-Defamation League had said. The billionaire said that he was “pro free speech" but against anti-Semitism of any kind. He emphasized the need for X to be a public forum for all.

“In my opinion, they are excessive, but perhaps the public will agree with them," Musk said. Last week, X Corp. had said that it will allow political advertising in the US from candidates and political parties.

X will expand its safety and elections team ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the Elon Musk-owned company had said in a blog post. The move by X to allow all political ads in the US could help it in increasing its revenue at a time when many advertisers have fled or reduced spending on the platform . X would create a global advertising transparency center to allow users to see what political ads were being promoted on its platform.

It would also continue to prohibit political ads that spread false information or seek to undermine public confidence in an election, the company had said. The social media company was formerly known as Twitter. In January, the company had lifted the ban and began allowing “cause-based ads" in the US that raise awareness on issues such as voter registration.