'Edgelord' Musk accused of 'insidious efforts' to ban the Anti-Defamation League from Twitter/X: report

Billionaire Tesla founder, X owner, and fairweather free speech fighter Elon Musk this weekend proposed surveying his site's users over whether he should ban the non-governmental organization Anti-Defamation League from the microblogging forum formerly known as Twitter, The Daily Beast's Justin Baragona reports.

"Perhaps we should run a poll on this?" Musk tweeted along with #BanTheADL just "days after boosting an antisemitic campaign" to boot the ADL, Baragona writes.

"The initial impetus behind the campaign appears to be a meeting ADL president Jonathan Greenblatt had with Twitter/X CEO Linda Yaccarino about addressing the rampant hate speech on the site," Baragona explains. "After Greenblatt tweeted about their 'very frank + productive conversation,' a number of prominent right-wing accounts pushed the hashtag #BanTheADL while claiming the group was stifling free speech."

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Musk's tiff with the ADL "has been going on for a while now," Baragona notes, recalling that Musk "engaged with Keith Woods, a YouTuber with connections to notorious white supremacists Nick Fuentes and Richard Spencer."

Musk's clash with ADL, Baragona continues, "ramped up this spring when the group called him out for comparing philanthropist George Soros—a long-standing boogeyman of the antisemitic right—to comic-book supervillain Magneto. After the organization said Musk's behavior could embolden extremists, the edgelord billionaire replied that they should 'just drop the 'A'' from ADL."

According to Baragona, ADL's "flack" blasted X in a statement to The Daily Beast:

ADL is unsurprised yet undeterred that antisemites, white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and other trolls have launched a coordinated attack on our organization. This type of thing is nothing new.

This onslaught comes following our participation in the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington, where ADL proudly marched shoulder-to-shoulder with African-American leaders and those from other minority communities. It also follows a meeting with the leadership of X, formerly known as Twitter, that clearly upset these hateful groups.

Such insidious efforts don't daunt us. Instead, they 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.

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View Baragona's full report at this link (subscription required).