Well, it looks like he’s going to do it. Elon Musk, hours after floating the idea of suing the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), has announced he plans to do just that. Musk, who took over X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, last year, slammed the organization for persuading advertisers not to advertise on the platform supposedly due to rampant antisemitic views on the site. Now that it appears Musk will follow through on his threat, we might be getting more details and information about the ADL’s relationship with X and its advertisers.

Over recent years, Big Tech platforms, in general, have been caught in a whirlwind of criticism, debates over censorship, and allegations of biased content moderation practices. These issues have made them particularly vulnerable to influence from activist groups claiming to fight for marginalized communities but often employing questionable tactics to achieve this end. Musk’s pending lawsuit would exemplify a corporation resisting efforts to bully and manipulate the company to conform to a progressive agenda.

On Monday, Musk made a post in which he said X has “no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League.”

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!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023

The X owner further suggested that the ADL could be “on the hook for destroying half the value of the company,” which would amount to about $22 billion. He claimed the organization is responsible for most of the company’s losses in revenue. He then pointed to something that might interest those who have been following the ongoing debate over censorship and efforts to suppress certain voices. “Document discovery of all communications between the ADL and advertisers will tell the full story,” he wrote.

Interesting.

In our case, they would potentially be on the hook for destroying half the value of the company, so roughly $22 billion.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023

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…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2023

The ADL has been using its influence ostensibly to persuade companies to crack down on antisemitic speech, along with other types of bigotry. However, the organization has come under fire for displaying a clear political bias. In this way, the ADL is similar to the Southern Poverty Law Center in that the organization began with a noble cause: protecting Jews from bigots. But now, it appears to many that it has become nothing more than an arm of the progressive left, falsely smearing political opponents as bigots to discredit them.

This story raises several important questions regarding the ADL’s actions. For starters, the organization had a relationship with X before Musk bought the company. How aggressively were they pushing the platform to do better at moderating content? Were they threatening to attack Twitter’s revenue as they have allegedly done with X?

Moreover, what evidence is there that antisemitic speech increased under Musk’s leadership? Last year, the company published data showing that “hate speech” had actually declined under his watch despite what elite media outlets have claimed.

If there remains no credible evidence showing that there are more active antisemites on X today than there were under previous management, it would seem to suggest that the ADL is motivated purely by politics instead of a desire to address bigotry. This would be in line with other examples people have pointed out about the organization. Indeed, it was recently revealed that the ADL went to the White House to persuade President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to do more to regulate content online.

Many people hail the ADL as this group that crusades for the rights of "Decent" and "Honest" conversations and as an arbiter of all things decent and acceptable within the media and discourse. They've had a questionably close relationship with advertisers and purveyors of news… pic.twitter.com/hMKcNKrx00

— Malcolm FleX - AKA FleXstradamus💯 (@Malcolm_fleX48) September 5, 2023

It is also worth noting that defamation is notoriously difficult to prove in a court of law. While it might be clear that the ADL has made efforts to sway advertisers away from the platform, it might be difficult to show that they were doing so in such a way as to render them civilly liable for it. 

Still, as Musk said, the discovery process will likely turn up information that might shed more light on how the ADL operates. If the organization is coming at this in good faith, then that will be affirmed. If not, then the group will be exposed.