X Corp. boss Elon Musk today partly blamed the Anti-Defamation League, or ADL, for his company’s steep decline in advertising revenue since he became boss of what was then Twitter Inc.

The mercurial tech mogul (pictured) took to X today to air his views, something that quite often leads to headlines in the media. This time, he accused the ADL of trying to bring down X by “falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic.” Since the ADL was established in 1913, it has become a leader in exposing and fighting antisemitism around the world.

Even so, Musk tweeted today, “the ADL, because they are so aggressive in their demands to ban social media accounts for even minor infractions, are ironically the biggest generators of anti-Semitism on this platform!” Blaming Jewish people for anti-Semitism is, even for Musk, somewhat surprising.

“If this continues, we will have no choice but to file a defamation suit against, ironically, the ‘Anti-Defamation’ League,” he went on. “If they lose the defamation suit, we will insist that they drop the the ‘anti’ part of their name, since obviously…”

Musk, who said he was a “free speech absolutist” when the deal to buy X was still going through, has, since taking over the reins, been criticized for various moves that don’t seem to align with his attitude toward free speech.

Despite Musk liking posts that contained the hashtag #BanTheADL, he said today that he is not antisemitic. He added, “To be super clear, I’m pro-free speech but against anti-Semitism of any kind.” In another post, he explained that bots may have been trying to bring down X by posting anti-Semitic comments on X. He appears to believe the ADL might even be behind that, explaining, “There is also no way to tell if the organization complaining was somehow complicit in creating the very thing they complain about!”

Musk said one of the reasons advertising in the U.S. has been on such a downswing is that businesses have told X that they’re not comfortable with the antisemitism being seen on the platform. It seems Musk believes there is possibly a conspiracy to bring X down. He may believe this is related to the expose that became known as the Twitter Files. Musk has in the past entertained various conspiracy theories.

There are those who believe X has gone too far in allowing various forms of speech to flourish on the platform and that it’s become a safe haven for promulgators of hate speech. It’s perhaps not surprising that advertisers, which are well-known for being extremely sensitive where threats to their bottom line is concerned, are pulling out of X in numbers.

Musk later asked if he should “run a poll” on the matter of banning the ADL, to which the organization said in a statement that it isn’t daunted and such threats will only “drive us to be unflinching in our commitment to fight hate in all its forms and ensure the safety of Jewish communities and other marginalized groups.”

Photo: Dan G/Flickr