More and more advertisers are leaving social network X due to concerns about their ads appearing alongside pro-Nazi content and hate speech.
IBM announced this week that it had stopped paying for advertising on X after learning that its ads frequently appeared alongside publications praising Nazis.
This was a new setback for X, which is still trying to win back major brands and their advertising budgets, which remain its main source of income.
Liberal advocacy group Media Matters also said in a report released Thursday that ads from Apple, Oracle, NBCUniversal’s Bravo network and Comcast were placed alongside anti-Semitic material on X.
“IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this completely unacceptable situation,” the company said in a statement.
Apple, Oracle, NBCUniversal and Comcast did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
The European Union’s executive branch also announced Friday that it was suspending its advertising on X and other social networks, in part because of an increase in hate speech.
Later, Disney, Lionsgate and Paramount Global also confirmed that they were suspending their X advertising campaigns.
X owner Elon Musk sparked an outcry this week with his own posts on the platform, where he responded to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to anti-Semitism .
“You told the real truth,” Mr. Musk wrote on Wednesday.
The billionaire has since been accused of tolerating anti-Semitic messages on the platform since he purchased it last year.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this abhorrent promotion of anti-Semitic and racist hatred, which goes against our fundamental values as Americans,” White House spokesperson Andrew wrote on Friday. Bates, in response to Elon Musk’s message.
Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, assured that “X’s point of view has always been very clear: discrimination must STOP at all levels.”
“I think this is something we can and should all agree on,” she said Thursday.
Mme Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal executive, was hired by Mr. Musk to rebuild ties with advertisers who fled the platform after its sale.
“Regarding this platform, X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat anti-Semitism and discrimination. There is no place for this anywhere in the world – it is ugly and bad. Full stop,” said M.me Yaccarino.