New Delhi: Following in the footsteps of tech giant IBM, iPhone maker Apple has reportedly pulled advertising from X as its owner Elon Musk continues to advocate far-right ideas and agrees with anti-Semitic statements.
Following Musk’s backing of antisemitic conspiracy theories, Apple has paused all advertising on the Musk-run site, Axios reported late Friday. Apple has been a significant advertiser on X. (Also Read: Who Is Sam Altman? Fired OpenAI’s ChatGPT CEO Is A Stanford University Dropout; Read How He Became Key Player In Tech World)
According to media sources, Disney, Warner Bros., Discovery, Paramount, and Comcast/NBCUniversal are also halting advertising. At least two additional organizations, Lionsgate and the European Commission, have apparently stopped advertising on X owing to “widespread concerns relating to the spread of disinformation.” (Also Read: ‘Dad Where Were You’: Netizens React As ChatGPT Maker OpenAI Fires Sam Altman)
According to Media Matters, as Musk continues his descent into white nationalist and antisemitic conspiracy theories, his social media platform has been placing advertisements for major brands such as Apple, Bravo (NBCUniversal), IBM, Oracle, and Xfinity (Comcast) next to content that supports Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party.
“X has also reinstated numerous accounts of bigots and paid far-right extremists, apparently including a pro-Hitler and Holocaust denier account, as part of its creator ad revenue sharing programme,” according to a report published by Media Matters.
During all of Musk’s upheaval, business adverts have also appeared on pro-Hitler, Holocaust denial, white nationalist, pro-violence, and neo-Nazi accounts, according to the investigation.
Musk said on X on Saturday, “Media Matters is pure evil.” X CEO Linda Yaccarino said that their point of view has always been very clear that discrimination by everyone should stop across the board.
“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,” she posted.