Elon Musk said he plans to file a "thermonuclear" legal action against Media Matters for America, claiming the leftist organization "completely misrepresented the real user experience on X" in an attempt to harm the social media platform.
Musk threatened the lawsuit after IBM's decision to pull ads from the social media platform after Media Matters for America claimed ads from the tech giant and pro-Nazi X posts had shown up adjacent to each other.
Apple and Lionsgate Entertainment also announced their intention to pull their ads from the platform.
"The split second court opens on Monday, X Corp will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company," Musk tweeted on Saturday. "Their board, their donors, their network of dark money, all of them..."
Musk added: "This week, Media Matters for America posted a story that completely misrepresented the real user experience on X, in another attempt to undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers. Above everything, including profit, X works to protect the public's right to free speech. But for speech to be truly free, we must also have the freedom to see or hear things that some people may consider objectionable. We believe that everyone has the right to make up their own minds about what to read, watch, or listen to — because that's the power of freedom of speech."
An X executive told Fox Business that groups like Media Matters "aggressively search for posts on X and then go to the accounts, and if they see an ad … keep hitting refresh to capture as many brands as possible."
The Babylon Bee announced it plans to commit to a $250,000 ad buy on X.
Elon Musk came up with the idea to buy Twitter in spring 2022 after The Babylon Bee, a satire site, was suspended from the platform (pre-Musk) for naming Joe Biden's diversity hire Rachel Levine "Man of the Year."
"They attack Musk because they hate freedom, and they hate freedom because it threatens their power to control the narrative. It really is that simple," Babylon Bee co-founder Seth Dillon said.
"As others are pulling their ad spend to punish Musk for the crime of letting free people speak, the Bee is committing to spending more. Today I'm pledging $250,000 toward a new ad campaign on X. It's not a lot compared to the budgets of the anti-speech bullies, but it's something. And hopefully it will be multiplied by others who join us."
The Post Millennial's Libby Emmons noted: "The Media Matters hit piece on Musk arrived amid accusations of anti-semitism both against Musk and X. Those leftist pundits, media outlets, and government officials who relished the censorship on the platform under previous leadership have balked at Musk's dedication to the First Amendment and free speech. They claim that there should be more content moderation. After a Media Matters researcher started looking for anti-semitic posts, that researcher found both those posts from small accounts and ads that, according to an X exec who spoke to the Financial Times, were following the researcher and not the anti-semitic posts."
"Ads follow the people on X, in this case the Media Matters researcher that was going to actively look for this content—that's how user targeting works. As it relates to the platform itself, control settings are in place there for every user and every brand," that X exec said.
Simon Ateba, the White House correspondent for Today News Africa, who has waged his own battle against the Left's efforts to silence him, wrote in a LinkedIn post:
"Elon Reeve Musk, aka (@elonmusk), the wealthiest man in the world and one of my followers and subscribers on X who pays me $5 monthly as a subscriber, is now the most hated man in America's Left because he dared to allow free speech on his platform.
"Suddenly, one of the brightest brains of our generation has become a conspiracy theorist, a far-right extremist, almost the devil, according to the left. He's also suddenly become a racist, an antisemite, and God knows what else they will soon come up with.
"In reality, he's none of those things, but by allowing all sides, all people, to speak freely, the radicals in America are trying to silence him and blackmail and blacklist him. They are trying to cut ads to kill the only free platform in America now.
"When I moved to America, I did so because this was supposed to be the land of the free and the brave. But right now, with attacks against anyone who attempts to speak freely, including myself, I am beginning to wonder if freedom can still be saved in America. It's Elon Musk today. It will be you tomorrow. May God help us."
Publishers and Citizen Journalists: Start your Engines
