November 16th 2023.
Since Elon Musk's acquisition of X (formerly Twitter) in October 2022, the platform has seen a surge in hate speech and content. In addition, the platform has allegedly paid a portion of its rapidly decreasing advertising revenue to a pro-Hitler Holocaust denier.
The anonymous user with the handle 'bambkb' and the name 'Kevin - WE THE PEOPLE - DAD' reported receiving over $3,000 from X, despite posting ranting posts about Nazis, the Holocaust, and other shocking topics.
Following the takeover, the billionaire tech mogul fired over 6,500 people and instituted a different approach to content moderation, causing advertisers to flee the platform. This, combined with Musk's admission of a 50% drop in advertising revenue in July 2023, suggests that X is struggling to attract and retain advertisers.
In a bid to turn this trend around, Musk hired Linda Yaccarino, an NBC Universal executive with deep ties to the advertising industry, as chief executive in May. However, Yaccarino's friends may not be pleased with the news that accounts such as 'bambkb' are receiving a portion of ad revenue.
According to the pro-Hitler account, not only did they receive payment, but they also received tech support from X when their account was supposedly throttled to reduce traffic and earnings. The account even stated that X said "Oops, sorry, we're having problems with our algorithm, it's fixed now," after the issue was brought to their attention.
The account even went on to address Musk directly, saying, "You should stop doing this to people and you should be honest to the public about your sneaky ways to try and deter people from speaking about things you don't like."
Given that the account has posted numerous pro-Hitler and Nazi memes, as well as posts that deny the Holocaust or downplay its severity, it is not surprising that Media Matters for America, a left-leaning nonprofit and media watchdog, reported that adverts from major companies were appearing on the account.
The watchdog described the discovery as 'bad news for brands that advertise on X' and alleged that it was 'helping financially reward pro-Adolf Hitler propaganda'. It is clear that X is not doing enough to combat antisemitism and to protect advertisers.
In October, the EU opened a formal investigation into X regarding the spread of 'terrorist and violent content' on the platform. This followed a letter from European Commissioner Thierry Breton to Musk asking for a report on the company's crisis measures.
It is clear that X needs to take action to combat hate speech and to protect advertisers, or risk facing further investigations from the EU. It will be interesting to see how Musk and Yaccarino respond to this ongoing issue.
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