Companies fleeing X over antisemitism
A growing list of companies has suspended advertising from Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, amid the ongoing fallout over antisemitic content. …
In response to an X user who had blamed the rise in online antisemitism on Jews, alleging they promoted ‘hatred against whites,’ the billionaire wrote, ‘You have said the actual truth.’
(Washington Post, November 18, 2023)
IBM, Apple, Disney, and Warner Bros. top the list. But this sudden aversion to Musk, compelling them to suspend advertising, reeks of virtue signaling. It would be like Evangelicals, who compose Trump’s base, suddenly finding him too morally repugnant.
What took companies so long, and do they mean it?
These companies deserve no commendation. They are merely suspending advertising. They’ve already fooled us once with that move.
From these reports, you wouldn’t know they left Twitter in droves just a year ago:
NAACP President Derrick Johnson called for all companies to pull ads from Twitter, tweeting it is “‘ highly destructive to our democracy for any advertiser to fund a platform that fuels hate speech, election denialism and conspiracy theories.’
The Wall Street Journal reported that General Mills, Pfizer, Audi, Volkswagen and Mondelez International Inc.—the maker of Oreos—stopped advertising on Twitter after Musk took over the company, in part due to concerns about how Twitter will moderate content.
(Forbes, November 28, 2022)
Frankly, suspending ads makes as much sense as a teenage girl thinking she doesn’t have to worry about her parents’ reaction because she’s only a little pregnant. That’s why Musk can be forgiven for thinking it’s only a matter of time before all companies resume their ads.
Why is anyone still on X?
Far more significant than these companies leaving X is the list of influential politicians, journalists, and influencers who X/tweet on. And, just as there’s nothing new about companies leaving Xitter, there’s nothing new about me calling out influential people for staying.
The title alone of a commentary I wrote nearly a year ago speaks volumes:
- Elon Musk Is Trolling Democrats. So Why Aren’t They Leaving Twitter in Droves? December 13, 2022
President Biden was chief among those I criticized. I implored him to leave, to uphold his political integrity and defend American democracy.
Yet, Biden is still active on X. But he’s leading the hellscape chorus of oxymorons condemning Musk for antisemitism on Xitter … while on X.
Surely, this is like a prostitute condemning her pimp before doing her next trick. Forgive the symmetry, but the way Jesus famously challenged virtue-signaling Pharisees comes to mind. For here is what he said as they were baying to stone an adulterous woman:
He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone.
(John 8:7, KJV)
Frankly, my friends, Musk doesn’t give a damn
Maya Angelou famously said that when they tell you who they are, believe them. And Musk was telling us who he was even before he bought Twitter. He’s a racist, antisemitic, fascistic narcissist.
Moreover, he has said he doesn’t care how much being who he is costs him. We should believe him. Or, to get it, do we need him to don a coat like Melania’s with those infamous words to her media critics:
I really don’t care, do U?