Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has filed a lawsuit against Media Matters for America, alleging that the advocacy group intentionally distorted data to harm the platform, formerly known as Twitter. Media Matters recently claimed that X allowed antisemitic posts to appear alongside advertising, leading several companies, including Apple, Disney, IBM, and Comcast, to temporarily suspend their ads on the platform based on the watchdog’s analysis.
In its lawsuit, X argues that Media Matters “knowingly and maliciously manufactured side-by-side images” that portrayed advertisers’ posts on the platform alongside Neo-Nazi and white-nationalist fringe content. X contends that Media Matters used these manipulated images to create a false perception of what typical X users encounter on the platform, with the intention of driving advertisers away and causing harm to X.
X specifically mentioned Comcast, Oracle, and IBM in its lawsuit, stating that these companies’ ads were only associated with hateful content as presented by Media Matters and not in any other genuine user context. Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X, emphasized that “not a single authentic user on X saw IBM’s, Comcast’s, or Oracle’s ads next to the content in Media Matters’ article.”