Elon Musk: Anti-Defamation League could be sued for defamation

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The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is under direct threat of being sued for defamation.

On Monday, Elon Musk tweeted, “To clear our platform’s name on the matter of anti-Semitism, it looks like we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League … oh the irony!”

During an interview with the Wisconsin Law Journal on Tuesday, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called Musk’s lawsuit frivolous and said safety remains a priority.

“It is profoundly disturbing that Elon Musk spent the weekend engaging with a highly toxic, antisemitic campaign on his platform — a campaign started by an unrepentant bigot that then was heavily promoted by individuals such as white supremacist Nick Fuentes, Christian nationalist Andrew Torba, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and others. Finally, we saw the campaign manifest in the real world when masked men marched in Florida on Saturday brazenly waving flags adorned with swastikas and chanting ‘Ban the ADL,’ Greenblatt said.

“But to be clear, the real issue is neither ADL nor the threat of a frivolous lawsuit. This urgent matter is the safety of the Jewish people in the face of increasing, intensifying antisemitism. Musk is engaging with and elevating these antisemites at a time when ADL is tracking a surge of bomb threats and swatting attacks of synagogues and Jewish institutions, dramatic levels of antisemitic propaganda being littered throughout Jewish and non-Jewish residential communities, and extremists marching openly through the streets in Nazi gear.  All of this is happening in a context of the highest number of antisemitic incidents that ADL has tracked in more than 40 years — and just two weeks away from the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur,” Greenblatt noted.

“And so, this behavior is not just alarming nor reckless. It is flat out dangerous and deeply irresponsible. We need responsible leaders to lead, to stop inflaming hatred and to step back from the brink before it’s too late,” Greenblatt added.

An ADL spokesperson told the Wisconsin Law Journal Tuesday the social media giants remarks are part of a wider coordinated attack.

“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,” an ADL spokesperson said. 

“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,” a spokesperson noted.

“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,” an ADL spokesperson added.

Musk also Tweeted, “In our case, they (the ADL) would potentially be on the hook for destroying half the value of the company, so roughly $22 billion.”

Musk later tweeted, “Based on what we’ve heard from advertisers, ADL seems to be responsible for most of our revenue loss. Giving them maximum benefit of the doubt, I don’t see any scenario where they’re responsible for less than 10% of the value destruction, so ~$4 billion. Document discovery of all communications between The ADL and advertisers will tell the full story.”

Earlier in January, Reuters News reported 14 of the top 30 advertisers on Twitter stopped all advertising on the platform after Musk took charge on Oct. 27, 2022.

Some X, formerly known as Twitter, users defended the ADL.

“However, the ‘discovery’ would go way beyond ADL and advertiser implications. It would involve combing ‘X’ for antisemitic, tropes, memes, etc. That would give the ADL justification for calling out ‘X’ for supporting that content. I’ve seen three clearly antisemitic posts this morning alone. They were a result of your threat to sue. You seem to be stimulating antisemitic behavior. That’s not going to help the suit,” Joel Keith tweeted.

In July, X (Twitter) filed a lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate, claiming the anti-hate group created a “scare campaign to drive away advertisers from the X (Twitter) platform.”

Last year, Musk was under fire for an alleged Tweet of a Nazi solider.