Kit Roberts
Anyone currently on Twitter may currently be feeling like the dog in the meme sitting in the burning room, quietly saying 'this is fine'.
Since Elon Musk bought the platform there have been a number of notable changes. There is of course the decision to change the name from Twitter, which had even become a verb with 'to tweet', to 'X', after a project that Musk had reportedly wanted to pursue for some time.
The name change is just one of a series of changes in the company, including changes to content moderation on the platform, as well as readmitting a number of people who had previously been banned for hate speech.
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Now, Musk has threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League for defamation after the group claimed that the social media site has become more tolerant of antisemitic hate speech since Musk took over.
The ADL is a group which campaigns against antisemitism, and drew attention to the spike in hate speech on Twitter.
In response, Tesla owner Musk threatened to sue them for defamation.
He posted: "To clear our platform's name on the matter of anti-Semitism, it looks like we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League ... oh the irony!"
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In a long Twitter thread, Musk complained: "Since the acquisition, the ADL has been trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic.
"Our US advertising revenue is still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by ADL (that’s what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!"
The tweet has been met with both anger and ridicule from Musk's critics on the platform. Many called him 'weak' and 'fragile'.
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One critic tweeted: "What a weak, weak man. His 'free speech absolutist' platform is so fragile the mere presence of the ADL is too threatening - apparently his revenue model counts on unfettered antisemitism."
A second said: "I’m a free speech absolutist but if I don’t like your speech I’m going to sue you and if my business partners don’t like it you may be put to death."
A third tweeted: "If i wanted to 'clear our platform's name of antisemitism' I would simply rid the platform I own of Nazi propagandists rather than interacting with and promoting them."
Another even compared the billionaire to former US president Donald Trump in how he handled the criticism.
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He said: "Amazing. He’s doubling down. He’s going full Trump - say outrageous things and then throw around frivolous lawsuits."
Musk has vowed that if he wins his lawsuit, he will insist the Anti-Defamation League 'drop the the “anti” part of their name, since obviously'.