© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Tesla, X (previously often called Twitter) and SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk speaks with members of the media throughout the AI Security Summit at Bletchley Park in Bletchley, Britain on November 1, 2023. Leon Neal/Pool by way of REUTERS/File Photograph
By Sheila Dang
(Reuters) -Social media firm X on Monday sued media watchdog group Media Issues, alleging the group defamed the platform after it revealed a report that mentioned advertisements for main manufacturers had appeared subsequent to posts touting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi occasion.
X, previously Twitter, has confronted rising outrage since Media Issues revealed the report on Thursday, which led IBM (NYSE:), Comcast (NASDAQ:) and several other different advertisers to drag advertisements from the platform in response.
Within the lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court docket in Texas, X claimed Media Issues “manipulated” the social media platform by utilizing accounts that completely adopted accounts for main manufacturers or customers recognized to supply fringe content material, and “resorted to endlessly scrolling and refreshing” the feed till it discovered advertisements subsequent to extremist posts.
Media Issues’ report misrepresented the everyday expertise on X “with the intention of harming X and its business,” the corporate mentioned within the lawsuit.
The watchdog group didn’t instantly reply to request for remark after the lawsuit was filed.
In an interview with Reuters earlier on Monday, Media Issues President Angelo Carusone mentioned the nonprofit’s findings flew within the face of X’s statements that it had launched security protections to forestall advertisements from showing subsequent to dangerous content material.
“If you search for white nationalist content, there are ads flourishing. The system they say exists is not operating as such,” he mentioned.
X mentioned within the lawsuit that advertisements for IBM, Comcast and Oracle (NYSE:) solely appeared alongside hateful content material for one viewer, which the corporate mentioned was Media Issues.
“Data wins over manipulation or allegations. Don’t be manipulated. Stand with X,” X Chief Government Linda Yaccarino posted on Monday.
Texas Lawyer Basic Ken Paxton mentioned on Monday his workplace was opening an investigation into Media Issues and that he was “extremely troubled” by allegations that the group manipulated information on X.
Since Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, a stream of advertisers have fled the platform, cautious of a few of Musk’s controversial posts and layoffs of staff who labored to reasonable content material.
The platform’s U.S. advert income has declined a minimum of 55% year-over-year every month since Musk’s takeover, Reuters beforehand reported.
Yaccarino advised staff in a notice on Sunday that whereas some advertisers had paused their investments following the report’s publication, the corporate had been clear about its efforts to battle antisemitism and discrimination.