Tech legend criticizes X owner Elon Musk for threatening to ban and sue the Anti-Defamation League
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Tech journalist Walt Mossberg announced Tuesday that he disabled his X account (formerly known as Twitter), saying Elon Musk’s acquisition of the site had turned it into a “cesspool. “
Mossberg is a very eye-catching person and expert in the U. S. tech writing industry. He has also co-founded media sites such as Recode and AllThingsD. He announced his boycott of X on Meta’s new Threads platform, saying his reasons revolved around threats from business tycoon M. . Musk will sue the Anti-Defense League (ADL).
Musk is threatening to sue the ADL for about $22 billion, saying the Jewish civil rights organization is “destroying” the value of its platform by accusing it of anti-Semitism.
Mossberg scaled back his use of X after Musk bought accounts of questionable figures when he took over Twitter. Among other things, Musk restored the accounts of media personality Andrew Tate, accused of rape and human trafficking, as a representative. Majorie Taylor Greene, known for spreading conspiracy theories.
“Under Elon Musk, Twitter not only made the decision to prevent the blocking of fans, liars and insurgents, but also actively welcomed them, with the obvious Mr. Musk. I had already reduced my stake by 90%. But Musk’s latest move, threatening to ban and sue the ADL, to the delight of anti-Semites and other enemies, is the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” Mossberg wrote in Threads.
He went on to say that they would only discover it on Threads, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. “They have their own drawbacks. (I even boycotted Meta for a while before the pandemic for privacy reasons. )But none compare to the Twitter cesspool under Musk, which I think is getting to the point of Truth Social,” he wrote.
Mossberg left Facebook in 2018 “because my own values and Facebook’s policies and movements have diverged to the point that I no longer sit here. “
Mossberg interviewed Musk in 2016 along with his Recode co-founder Kara Swisher.
This time, Mossberg left X for fear that “anti-Semites and haters” would rejoice at Sberg’s decision. Musk to ban and sue the ADL.
“It is deeply troubling that Elon Musk spent the weekend waging a highly venomous anti-Semitic crusade on his platform,” ADL CEO Johnathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “But to be clear, the genuine factor is neither the ADL nor the risk of a frivolous lawsuit. This pressing factor takes into account the security of the Jewish people in the face of growing and intensified anti-Semitism. “
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Although no complaint has yet been filed, Musk turned to X to publicize the hashtag #BantheADL, which is inevitably popular within the far-right X community.
Before retiring from journalism in 2017, Mossberg wrote for the Wall Street Journal for more than 20 years. His admiration makes his exit from X ten times louder in the media industry.
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Mossberg interviewed Musk in 2016 along with his Recode co-founder Kara Swisher.
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Walt Mossberg, co-founder of Recode, says no other platform “comes close to Twitter’s cesspool, Musk. “
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