X (formerly Twitter) is suing watchdog Media Matters, accusing it of manipulating a hate speech report to tarnish the platform’s reputation
Since Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, there has been a prevailing intuition that the platform, since renamed to X, would inevitably emerge as a potent challenger to establishment media.
Whether it’s unraveling their carefully woven narrative on Ukraine or exposing the delicate veneer of their agenda, X (formerly Twitter) has consistently been a source of discomfort for those in Washington or the EU managing the news flow – from Israel to the respective migration crises. But who would’ve thought that the retaliation would be this desperate and embarrassingly obvious?
On November 20, 2023, X initiated legal proceedings against Media Matters, a non-profit organization founded in 2004 with a mission to monitor and rectify conservative misinformation in US media. X alleges that Media Matters orchestrated a deceptive scenario by strategically juxtaposing advertisers’ posts with extremist content.
According to X, the crux of the defamation claim arises from Media Matters’ publication of a report asserting that ads for major brands were displayed alongside posts endorsing Nazism. X further contends that Media Matters employed manipulated algorithms and fake accounts to craft a narrative intended to besmirch the platform’s reputation. While applauding the theatricality, X questions the seriousness of such tactics.
Media Matters is pure evil https://t.co/9bdMWyczs6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2023
Advertisers left in shambles
The aftermath was catastrophic, it seems. Big players like IBM, Apple, and Comcast ran for the hills, distancing themselves from X faster than you can say “cancel culture.”