Elon Musk mentioned he could sue the Anti-Defamation League for purportedly accusing X and the billionaire proprietor of the social platform of antisemitism and fueling advertisers’ exodus from the social community.

In a post on X (previously often called Twitter) on Monday, Musk accused the civil rights group of “trying to kill” X by “falsely accusing it & [him] of being anti-Semitic.” In one other post he claimed that X’s falling promoting income, which has plunged roughly 60% since his formal takeover of the platform in October of 2022, is “primarily due to pressure on advertisers” by the ADL.

“If this continues, we will have no choice but to file a defamation suit against, ironically, the ‘Anti-Defamation’ League,” Musk mentioned.

Musk’s threats to sue the ADL come after a marketing campaign referred to as #BanTheADL trended on X this weekend. Musk engaged with the marketing campaign, which requires the group’s account on X to be banned, and asked his greater than 155 million followers if he ought to “run a poll” on the matter.  

The ADL mentioned it usually would not touch upon authorized threats, however in a press release shared with CBS MoneyWatch on Tuesday it  addressed the marketing campaign to take away its account from X.

“ADL is unsurprised yet undeterred that antisemites, white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and other trolls have launched a coordinated attack on our organization,” an ADL spokesperson mentioned. “Such insidious efforts don’t daunt us.”

The ADL has flagged a surge in bullying and antisemitic posts on X following the billionaire’s acquisition of the social community final 12 months. After shopping for Twitter, Musk reinstated the accounts of prominent users equivalent to Babylon Bee and Andrew Tate that beforehand had been banned for publishing content material that violated the platform’s hate speech insurance policies earlier than Musk acquired it. 

Since then, Musk has additionally rolled again guidelines that eliminated “violative hateful content” on the platform, the ADL mentioned in a June report. According to that evaluation, 27% of on-line harassment this 12 months occurred on X, up from 21% in 2022. The nonprofit group additionally pointed to an increase in antisemitism on the Musk-owned platform. 

In an X post on Monday, Musk insisted that whereas he’s “pro free speech,” he’s “against anti-Semitism of any kind.” 

This is not the primary time X leaders have pushed again in opposition to criticism from an advocacy group. In July, X filed a lawsuit in opposition to the Center for Countering Digital Hate for what the expertise firm characterised as a “scare campaign to drive away advertisers from the X platform.”