IBM SUSPENDS advertising on Elon Musk’s X after report found ads running next to content that ‘touts Hitler and his Nazi Party’

• IBM has pulled its global advertising from Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter
• Media Matters found adverts from brands including IBM, Apple, Oracle and Comcast’s Xfinity and Bravo had been running next to Hitler and Nazi content
• X’s moderation policies have been relaxed under Musk who cut a chunk of staff involved with safety on the platform when his $44bn acquisition closed last year

IBM has pulled its global advertising from Elon Musk’s X following claim that the company’s advertisements had been running alongside pro-Nazi material.

Media Matters’ report claimed that it had found ads from big brands including IBM, Apple, Oracle and Comcast’s Xfinity and Bravo running next to content ‘that touts Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party.’

‘IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation,’ the company said in a statement.

Comcast told the Financial Times that it was looking into the matter while Apple and Oracle were yet to respond. DailyMail.com has reached out to each company for comment.

IBM has pulled its global advertising on Elon Musk ‘s X following a report that the company’s advertisements had allegedly been running alongside Hitler and pro-Nazi material. Pictured is SVP and Director at IBM Research Arvind Krishna

Media Matters put out a report claiming that it had found ads from big brands including IBM, Apple, Oracle and Comcast’s Xfinity and Bravo running next to content ‘that touts Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party’

Musk relaxed moderation policies and cut a chunk of staff involved with safety on the platform when his $44 billion deal to own the social media company was finalized last year.

Ad revenues fell about 50 percent, Musk sheepishly admitted in July, just as X’s  newly appointed chief executive Linda Yaccarino took on the arduous task of reassuring brand sponsors.

Yaccarino used to head Comcast’s NBCUniversal before joining the social media platform in June.

She has been meeting ad agencies and brands and insisted that the company is investing in technology to ensure brands run next to desirable content – despite the recent reports.  

According to the Financial Times, some brands have also been concerned by content posted by Musk himself.

In one screenshot, Media Matters showed an Oracle ad placed underneath a post including a photograph of a picture of Hitler and a quote by him about ‘truth.’

Musk relaxed moderation policies and cut a chunk of staff involved with safety on the platform when his $44 billion deal to own the social media company was finalized last year

Ad revenues fell about 50 percent Musk sheepishly admitted in July and as for X’s newly appointed chief executive Linda Yaccarino (pictured) the news is set to complicate the already arduous task of reassuring brand sponsors

Another screenshot showed an Xfinity advert beneath a post praising the Third Reich. 

It isn’t the first time Musk has challenged non-profit groups besmirching the social media platform. 

In September, Musk threatened to sue Anti-Defamation League, a civil-rights group that fights antisemitism. 

He blasted the group claiming that it had been trying to ‘kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being antisemitic.’

Source: Read Full Article