X’s ad sales are still down 60 percent “primarily due to pressure on advertisers from the ADL,” CEO Musk said in a series of posts on X.
According to Musk, the organization has been trying to kill the platform since he bought it last year by “falsely accusing” X and himself of anti-Semitic behavior. The CEO also said legal action is a possible option if the organization continues with the allegations. Musk stated that he is “for free speech” but against anti-Semitism “of any kind”.
ADL previously said reports of harassment and extremist content on the platform had increased since Musk’s acquisition. An ADL spokesperson said the recent hate speech attack against the organization was part of an online campaign spearheaded by groups who were “clearly appalled” by the organization’s recent meeting with X’s top executives.
Since taking over the messaging service, Musk has cut the company’s costs considerably and laid off a large part of the staff. While X no longer needs to return its ad revenue in the US market to previous levels to survive, Musk says it would be “nice” to see those sales numbers return.