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Tag: linda yaccarino
Elon Musk

Elon Musk Praises Antisemitic 'Replacement' Theory As 'The Truth'

Ever in search of a new low, Elon Musk managed to find one on November 15 when he declared on X (formerly known as Twitter) that a paid X Premium (previously Twitter Blue) user’s antisemitic conspiracy theory attacking Jewish people was the “actual truth.”

The antisemitic post Musk endorsed came in response to a user writing, “To the cowards hiding behind the anonymity of the internet and posting 'Hitler was right': You got something you want to say? Why don't you say it to our faces…”

The conspiracy theory, that Jewish populations are pushing “hatred against whites” and supporting “hordes of minorities” coming into the country, is the same one that motivated the 2018 Tree of Life shooter in Pittsburgh, as noted by The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg. Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and other figures linked to white nationalism are cheering on Musk.

The Tree of Life shooter, who was found guilty this year, wrote on far-right platform Gab that he blamed Jewish people in the U.S. “for bringing in an invasion of nonwhite immigrants.” (Gab owner Andrew Torba is also one of the people cheering on Musk; Gab’s X account even bragged about red-pilling Musk on “JQ” – that is, the “Jewish question.”)

How did we get from a mass shooter writing something on a platform that most people have never visited to Musk endorsing it? First, Musk himself has rebuilt X around extremists like this, making a concentrated effort to lift up extremism, even providing financial incentives.

Musk’s platform, ostensibly run by CEO Linda Yaccarino, has said that posts claiming “Hitler was right” and that there needs to be a “final solution” regarding Jewish people don’t violate the platform’s “safety policies”; run ads for major brands on Holocaust denial accounts; and apparently paid a pro-Hitler Holocaust denier a share of its ad revenue.

Indeed, Musk and Yaccarino have reinstated known white nationalists and antisemites on the platform. Musk has directly engaged with some of the reinstated antisemitic accounts and amplified conspiracy theories that were used to push antisemitism. Musk’s posts earlier this year earned the praise of a leading neo-Nazi.

Don't overlook the role of Fox News here

But the true middleman between the Tree of Life shooter in 2018 and the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is Fox News — and specifically Lachlan Murdoch.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, a Fox guest railed against the “Soros-occupied State Department.” TPM’s Josh Marshall noted that this claim was “straight out of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the foundational anti-Semitic tract.” The guest was banned from Fox; in retrospect it appears his main offense was being ahead of the curve.

Indeed, it did not take long after the Tree of Life shooting for the conspiracy theory to pop up on Fox News, with former host Glenn Beck in particular making a similar argument while appearing on Sean Hannity’s show.

The major inflection point came when then-Fox host Tucker Carlson pushed his own version of replacement theory in 2021. There was a big outrage — but Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch personally made clear that Carlson had the green light to go there. And go there he did. A New York Times analysis, conducted before Fox fired Carlson, shows that he pushed it in more than 400 episodes.

And now it’s not just Carlson. Numerous Fox personalities and others have followed his lead and made the conspiracy theory into a core plank in GOP politics.

Of course, Carlson now effectively works for Musk.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Linda Yaccarino

Musk's X: 'Hitler Was Right' Didn't 'Violate Our Safety Policies'

X's internal reporting system repeatedly responded that posts claiming “Hitler was right” and that there needs to be a “final solution” regarding Jewish people don't violate the platform’s “safety policies.” This isn’t an isolated example: The Center for Countering Digital Hate similarly released a report today finding that X has failed to remove neo-Nazi content on its platform in numerous cases.

X CEO Linda Yaccarino has tried to mollify advertisers by claiming that her company “opposes antisemitism in all its forms” and “will always work to fight it.” But X has repeatedly shown that it cares little about antisemtism and bigotry on its platform. And owner Elon Musk has repeatedly engaged with antisemitism. This has created a toxic atmosphere for brands, where their advertisements appear directly on pro-Hitler, Holocaust denial, white nationalist, pro-violence, and neo-Nazi accounts. Ads have also recently appeared next to unhinged conspiracy theories about Jewish people and 9/11.

X claims in its “safety” policies section that it does not allow “Hateful conduct,” saying: “You may not directly attack other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.” It specifically states that violations of this policy include “genocides, (e.g., the Holocaust).”

The Center for Countering Digital Hate released a report today finding that “researchers identified a total of 140 posts that promoted antisemitism, including racist caricatures of Jewish people and claims that Jews control the world. X continued hosting this content in 85.00% (119) of cases.”

In light of Musk’s interactions with antisemitic users surrounding the “BanTheADL” campaign, Media Matters ran a test of X’s system for reporting policy violations by flagging 28 posts that specifically claimed that “Hitler was right” or a “final solution” is needed for Jewish people. X’s reporting system responded in five instances by telling us those don’t violate the platform’s policies.

At time of publishing, there have been zero instances of X telling us a post with either of those phrases was a violation, though three posts are no longer available: X told us it took action against one account based on “different reports we received about their behavior” and two reported posts no longer exist due to the tweet having “been deleted” and the account “no longer exists.” X took no apparent action nor responded to reports on the remaining posts that we flagged.

The five posts that X told us didn't violate their policies are:

  • Based_bigfoot wrote: “@elonmusk We really need to solve this problem. We need, like, a final solution.” (X's response.)
  • Dirlewanger8814 wrote: “@I98Kev @elonmusk @bennyjohnson It happened because Hitler was right about everything and most of his people knew it.” (X's response.)
  • HCollinns wrote: “@Resurrec_Ted @KeithWoodsYT [ADL CEO Jonathan] Greenblatt - proving Hitler was right one tweet at a time.” (X's response.)
  • OrganicReportin wrote: “@elonmusk Elon most the mainstream media are jews. Hitler was right. Also only 270.000 jew were in EUROPE IN THE 1940S. So who do you think BS the whole world telling us 6 million we in Europe who were killed? fake news from the jews. You ban on this and you too are owned by jews.” (X's response.)
  • PastorJim316 wrote: “@G_U_N_N_A_R_ A final solution for the ADL problem is needed.” (X's response.)

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Musk's 'X' Placed Major Ads On Account Of Antisemite Promoting Violence

Musk's 'X' Placed Major Ads On Account Of Antisemite Promoting Violence

X (formerly Twitter) has been placing ads for major brands like MLB, Bayer, Tyson Foods, and eBay on the account of Stew Peters, a white nationalist streamer who uses the social platform to endorse the killings of politicians and LGBTQ advocates. Peters has over 400,000 followers on his account, which he uses to attack people for being Jewish, and recently wrote of the Elon Musk-backed “BanTheADL” campaign: “The ADL controlling free speech has gone on long enough. The final solution should be @elonmusk banning the @ADL from twitter/@x.”

X CEO Linda Yaccarino has been claiming that her platform is a safe place for brands. She recently tweeted that X has a “commitment to brand safety” and told CNBC in a recent interview that companies are “protected from the risk of being next to” toxic content and, “By all objective metrics, X is a much healthier and safer platform than it was a year ago.”

That’s false: Media Matters and other observers have shown that X remains a toxic environment, especially for advertisers. Since Elon Musk took over the company, X has placed ads for numerous brands directly on pro-Hitler, Holocaust denial, white nationalist, and neo-Nazi accounts. Ads have also appeared next to unhinged conspiracy theories about Jewish people and 9/11.

Peters is a far-right conspiracy theorist, white nationalist, and Rumble host who believes that politicians, pro-vaccine advocates, and journalists must be executed.

Peters was previously banned on X when it was known as Twitter, but he was able to reopen an account under Musk. During his time on X, he has authored numerous posts that have spread false claims and conspiracy theories, including recently claiming that a laser weapon caused the Lahaina wildfires.

He also uses his account to attack people for being Jewish and promote white nationalism. He once posted a celebratory picture of Hitler, writing: “Say what you will about Hitler, but people turned out for his rallies.”

He wrote of the Holocaust: “The Covid bioweapon genocide is significantly WORSE than the holocaust in terms of worldwide reach and number of deaths.”

Despite (or maybe because of) his toxic background, numerous political figures have appeared on his program. They include: U.S. Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Bob Good (R-VA), Pete Sessions (R-TX), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ); Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers; and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Peters recently spoke at the ReAwaken America tour in Las Vegas along with Donald Trump Jr., Lara Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Michael Flynn, among others. During that speech, Peters again called for the hanging of Anthony Fauci.

Peters openly promotes violence on his account, which is a violation of X’s purported rules. X, however, has repeatedly failed to enforce its rules under Musk and Yaccarino’s watch.

X placed ads for major advertisers on Peters' violent posts and account 

We looked at two recent examples of Peters promoting violence and found numerous ads for major brands directly on those posts. We also looked at Peters’ account and found numerous other brand ads.

Pro-LGBTQ killing. Peters posted an image of a flier calling for the murder of pro-LGBTQ advocates, including the anti-bullying group GLSEN and Target, because they support transgender rights. He wrote: “Apparently some fine Americans are circulating some literature at their local Target store.”

Brand ads on that post include:

While advertising for Bayer — a pharmaceutical company that helped produce a COVID-19 vaccine — has appeared on his account, Peters has said drug companies involved in the manufacturing of the vaccine should receive “the death penalty.”

Pro-politician killing. Peters posted an image of gallows with the caption “government repair kit.” He wrote: “We have a lot of repairing to do.”

Brand ads on that post include:

Peters’ account is filled with other calls for violence. Those include him posting a video of politicians and reporters making pro-COVID-19 vaccine remarks and writing, “Every single one of these people deserve the rope”; and him saying of non-binary singer Sam Smith, “Any serious society would give this demon the Old Yeller treatment.”

Peters also recently suggested violence against California state Rep. Lori Wilson (D), posting on X regarding a speech she made supporting gender affirming care: “Time for a trip to the woodshed.” (Replies to Peters included “gallows,” “hang,” and “to the big tree.”)

We also found ads for numerous brands on Peters’ account page:

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Linda Yaccarino

Musk's 'X' Places Major League Ads Next To Unhinged Antisemitic Posts

X (formerly known as Twitter) has been placing ads for major brands like the NFL, MLB, T-Mobile, and eBay alongside content pushing unhinged conspiracy theories about Jewish people orchestrating the 9/11 attacks. Despite X CEO Linda Yaccarino’s recent claims that her company “opposes antisemitism in all its forms” and “will always work to fight it,” these placements serve as another warning to advertisers about the hollowness of her promises.

Antisemites have long alleged that nefarious Jewish forces are secretly behind world events, including the 9/11 attacks.

Media Matters and other observers have documented how X has remained a dangerous cesspool, especially for advertisers. Since Musk took over the company, X has placed ads for numerous brands directly on pro-Hitler, Holocaust denial, white nationalist, and neo-Nazi accounts.

In recent weeks, X owner Elon Musk has given fuel to antisemitism on the platform by showing support for the “#BanTheADL.”

Yaccarino has attempted to do damage control by claiming that “X opposes antisemitism in all its forms.” In a post to the platform, she also wrote, “Antisemitism is evil and X will always work to fight it on our platform. And X is also always open to proactively working together in that fight with all groups.” She recently told CNBC that companies are “protected from the risk of being next to” toxic content.

But Media Matters found on September 11 that X has been placing ads for numerous brands next to openly antisemitic content, including the hashtag “JewsDid911.” (In some instances, that hashtag also appeared next to the Musk-promoted “BanTheADL” hashtag.) Ads appearing next to antisemitic claims about 9/11 included:

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.