Elon Musk lashed out at large advertisers and Media Matters, a media watchdog group , on Friday after several major brands decided to pause spending on X, the social media platform he owns and runs as CTO.
Elon Musk announced late Friday night that his company, X Corp, would be filing a lawsuit against Media Matters and all those involved in what he called a “fraudulent attack” on the company. In tweets, Musk stated that the lawsuit would be “thermonuclear” and would target Media Matters’ board, donors, and anyone who colluded in the alleged attack. Musk expressed anticipation for the discovery and depositions, describing them as “glorious to behold.”
The conflict arose after Media Matters for America (MMFA) published a report revealing that ads for mainstream brands on X, formerly known as Twitter, were appearing alongside user posts promoting pro-Nazi views. This report followed Musk’s personal tweets that the White House condemned as an “abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate.”
In response to the report, major advertisers, including Apple, Comcast/NBC Universal, Disney, IBM, Lions Gate, Paramount Global, and Warner Bros. Discovery, suspended their ad spending on the platform temporarily. Musk, in a subsequent tweet, promoted a paid, ad-free subscription version of X, emphasizing that Premium+ has no ads in the timeline. a media watchdog group
X’s spokesperson, Joe Benarroch, sent a blog post to CNBC alleging that Media Matters had misrepresented the user experience of the social network. According to Benarroch, Media Matters created a fake X account, deliberately followed sensitive accounts, and manipulated posts to misinform advertisers about their placement on the timeline, claiming that such contrived experiences could be replicated on any social media platform.