More brands pausing ads on X amid antisemitism controversy

More brands are pausing their advertisements on X, formerly known as Twitter, amid a growing controversy over antisemitic content on the social media platform. 

Two more companies announced a pause in their X ads on Friday after IBM on Thursday said that it was pausing all of its ad buys on the platform, which was first reported by The Financial Times. Tech giant Apple moved to pause its ads on X, according to a report by Axios. At the same time, a spokesperson for Lions Gate Entertainment also indicated on Friday the media company is pulling its ads from the platform.

The moves come after a report by left-wing group Media Matters for America showed major corporations’ ads were being surfaced alongside antisemitic and, in some cases, pro-Nazi posts on X. 

They also pose a renewed challenge for the social media platform, which has struggled to keep advertisers on the site since the company was acquired by an ownership group led by billionaire Elon Musk in October 2022.

IBM SUSPENDS ADVERTISING ON ELON MUSK’S X DUE TO ADS SHOWING UP NEAR ANTISEMITIC CONTENT

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An executive for the company previously told FOX Business its platform was “not intentionally placing a brand actively next to this type of content, nor is a brand actively trying to support this content with placement.”

“Ads follow people on X, in this case the Media Matters’ research that was going to actively look for this content — that’s how user targeting works,” the X executive explained. “As it relates to the platform itself, control settings are in place there for every user and every brand.”

The executive also claimed groups like Media Matters “aggressively search for posts and then go to the accounts, and if they see an ad… keep hitting refresh to capture as many brands as possible.”

ELON MUSK ACCUSES ADL OF SPREADING ANTI-WHITE HATRED IN LATEST CONTROVERSIAL X POSTS

The posts of X owner Elon Musk are also prompting controversy. Musk, who is feuding with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) over its claims of rampant antisemitism on X, appeared to respond with agreement to a post that claimed Jewish communities have spread “hatred against whites.” 

“You have said the actual truth,” Musk wrote Wednesday. 

“The ADL unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel,” he continued in another X post. “This is because they cannot, by their own tenets, criticize the minority groups who are their primary threat,” he wrote, apparently referring to Palestinians and Arabs who have called for Jihad against Israel.

“It is not right and it needs to stop,” Musk added. He then responded to a critic who accused him and the original poster of generalizing the Jewish community and conceded, “[T]his does not extend to all Jewish communities, but it is also not just limited to ADL.”

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X CEO Linda Yaccarino, who was brought in to replace Musk at the helm of the social media platform this summer, posted a statement on the site Thursday.

“X’s point of view has always been very clear that discrimination by everyone should STOP across the board – I think that’s something we can and should all agree on,” Yaccarino wrote. “When it comes to this platform – X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There’s no place for it anywhere in the world – it’s ugly and wrong. Full stop.”

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The White House on Friday accused Musk of repeating a “hideous” antisemitic lie on X that it called an “abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate” that “runs against our core values as Americans.”

FOX Business’ Aislinn Murphy and Chris Pandolfo and Reuters contributed to this report.