Elon Musk’s X Corp has announced its plans to sue Media Matters, a leftist nonprofit, as the battle over free speech intensifies. Major corporations are being accused by Musk’s social media company of oppressing the right to free speech amid a new wave of advertiser boycotts.
In a statement directly refuting Media Matters’ research, X Corp, commonly known as X, criticized the nonprofit for misrepresenting the real user experience on their platform. According to X, Media Matters has made deliberate attempts to undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers.
Taking to Twitter early on Saturday morning, Musk stated that as soon as the court’s doors open on Monday, X Corp will file a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and anyone who colluded in what they deem as a fraudulent attack on their company.
X Corp accuses Media Matters of manipulating the public and advertisers by curating their timeline to provide misinformation about the placement of posts. They allege that out of the 5.5 billion ad impressions served on the platform on the day Media Matters released their report, only 50 ad impressions were displayed next to the controversial content cherry-picked by the nonprofit.
The controversy has led to a boycott against X Corp, with several major corporations, including Apple, Disney, and Warner Bros, joining in. Musk, however, sees this boycott as an opportunity to promote X’s new premium subscription service, priced at $16. This service offers benefits such as a blue checkmark, ad revenue sharing, access to the Grok AI chatbot, and an ad-free user experience.
In response to the boycott, Musk argues that many of the largest advertisers are the ones who suppress free speech the most. The Media Matters report that led to the outrage against X Corp capitalized on Musk’s agreement with a user’s post regarding Jewish organizations and their role in the Israel-Gaza conflict. Musk clarified later that his criticism was aimed at liberal organizations claiming to represent all Jews, not the entire Jewish community.
The ad in question featured a white working class father addressing his son about online antisemitic posts, sparking controversy among X users. Many users took issue with the ad, pointing out that surveys consistently show minority groups are more likely to hold anti-Semitic views than white people.
Overall, this ongoing dispute highlights the delicate balance between free speech, corporate responsibility, and the influence of major corporations on social media platforms. With X Corp preparing to take legal action against Media Matters, the outcome of this lawsuit will undoubtedly impact the discussion surrounding free speech in the digital age.
