Media Matters is just one of many leftist outfits that have adopted the tactic of trying to intimidate or scare away advertisers from placing ads with outlets or on platforms they oppose.
It’s activism disguised as journalism, aimed at regaining much of the control leftists once enjoyed over the flow of information.
Elon Musk appears poised to try to counter the tactic legally, as evidenced by his late-night tweet threatening a ‘thermonuclear lawsuit’ against Media Matters and those who ‘colluded’ in the damaging reporting.
The split second court opens on Monday, X Corp will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company pic.twitter.com/55vl7PspaQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2023
Recent Media Matters hit pieces on Elon Musk’s Twitter/X platform have resulted in big-name advertisers such as Apple, Disney, and IBM suspending advertising on the platform.
Their board, their donors, their network of dark money, all of them …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2023
It’s no secret that Media Matters is funded by Soros and other liberal mega-donors.
They are pure evil
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2023
Many on Twitter/X applauded Musk’s move against Media Matters.
The discovery and depositions will be glorious to behold
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2023
According to Musk, Media Matters was being deceitful by gaming the system to produce an outcome that would display ads from high-profile advertisers next to vile content.
Essentially, Media Matters created a Twitter/X account, followed a bunch of white supremacist accounts, and then refreshed their browser until ads from the companies in question were displayed next to the unsavory content.
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They created a fake account and only followed Nazis so their whole feed was posts from Nazis and then kept hitting refresh until they had an IBM ad next to a Nazi post to screenshot and use against Twitter.
I hope he sues them into the ground. https://t.co/E2TS20EptU
— brian t muldoon (@brian_t_muldoon) November 18, 2023
We would assume Musk’s argument is that the typical Twitter user would not be following a slate of trashy accounts, so the Media Matters piece was an unfair representation of the Twitter/X experience, designed to mislead would-be advertisers.
We have no doubt that is the intent of Media Matters, but can he get any relief from the courts?
There are about fifty reasons your petulant flounce is nonsense, you emotionally spavined freak, but let’s start with the first clause of the first sentence: it’s 2023 and you e-file complaints now. You don‘t have to wait for the courthouse to be open. You utter twat. https://t.co/0EILsSzHz1
— DoneHat (@Popehat) November 18, 2023
Elon’s claimed lawsuit was apparently so offensive to Popehat that it brought the once-popular account out of its year-long hibernation to tear into Musk.
Legal matters aside, the challenge for Musk is nearly insurmountable. If you’re going to allow free speech, including objectionable speech, on an ad-supported platform, you’re going to run into scenarios where ads are placed next to that content occasionally, despite your best efforts. Algorithms are never going to be capable of detecting every type of despicable content in text or image form.
Elon Musk is realizing what we’ve all known – if you threaten the ideological worldview of the left, they invent ways to try to remove you from the equation. I’m excited to travel the journey of this lawsuit, as Media Matters is merely a shell for a much bigger organizational…
— Tracy Beanz (@tracybeanz) November 18, 2023
The Left excels at this kind of attack.
They’ve managed to bully frightened advertisers into believing there is something unique about Twitter/X and the ‘risk’ that their products and services will be displayed near unsavory content.
Guess what, advertisers? That’s already the case. You’re on the internet.
Media Matters themselves are one click away from every kind of perversion that’s ever managed to limp its way out of the cesspool of the human mind.
THERMONUCLEAR LAWSUIT SOUNDS EXCITING NGL pic.twitter.com/wwQZOSHbxU
— Persiantrader (@dapersiantrader) November 18, 2023
Fans liked the idea of Musk taking on Media Matters.
Only time will tell if he actually has a path to victory here.
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