Elon Musk Turned X into a ‘Cesspool of Hate Speech,’ Senator Says
Senate chairman speaks out against antisemitism from the world's richest man
Condemnation of Elon Musk’s management and behavior on his X social media site (formerly known as Twitter) is blowing on Capitol Hill, with an influential senator speaking out and encouraging sponsors to dump the site.
Sen Richard Blumenthal’s criticism is just the latest Musk has received since affirming an antisemitic post on the platform as “the actual truth.”
The comment stemmed from an X user's post that claimed Jews “have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.”
Musk responded, “You have said the actual truth,” while also criticizing the Anti-Defamation League, an advocacy group that works to combat hate against Jewish people.
The fallout from the antisemitism from the world's richest man includes brand chiefs and marketing leaders reaching out to X CEO Linda Yaccarino to push her to resign “before her reputation is damaged.”
Blumenthal, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Privacy, Technology and the Law Subcommittee, also took direct aim at Musk over the weekend in a TV interview.
“My reaction to Elon Musk’s post was absolute abhorrence. His saying that this blatantly anti-Semitic comment was, quote, ‘the actual truth’ is sickening and chilling,” the Connecticut Democrat said. “And Elon Musk has turned X, formerly known as Twitter, into a cesspool of hate speech and extremist incitement.
“And I encourage, in fact, I urge advertisers like IBM — which has done so — to withdraw from X and to send a message to Elon Musk that hate has no place on this powerful megaphone,” Blumenthal added. “And as you know, the surge of anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, white supremacist, anti-Black sentiment on social media has been an incubator, in fact, an accelerant to more than just speech — action that constitutes hate crimes.”
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