Elon Musk directed his nearly 160 million followers on X to follow two accounts for updates on the Israel-Gaza conflict â only for one of them to have a history of anti-Semitism.
In a since-deleted tweet posted on Sunday (October 8), Musk, the owner of X, wrote: âFor following the war in real-time, @WarMonitors & @sentdefender are good.â
He added: âIt is also worth following direct sources on the ground. Please add interesting options in the replies below.â
CNN journalist Jake Tapper screenshotted the tweet and posted it alongside an exchange between War Monitor and a user named Avi Kaner, where the account is seen using derogatory language.
In the caption, Tapper wrote: âElon Musk lauds this bigot as a good source of information, part Infiniti.â
Elon Musk lauds this bigot as a good source of information, part Infiniti pic.twitter.com/n318hVaJaW
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 8, 2023
Musk appears to have deleted the tweet after criticising War Monitorâs use of language in a post on the same day, where the account listed the names of âtwenty martyrs (numerous families) murdered in an airstrike on their home in Beit Hanoun, Gaza tonightâ.
In response, Musk wrote: ââMartyrsâ is not an objective or accurate word, nor is âmurderedâ. The former implies dying for a cause in battle and the latter implies a deliberate attempt to kill those specific people.
âWhile reporting both sides is fair, please use maximally accurate or I must withdraw my recommendation to follow your account.â
Last month, a group of over 100 Jewish leaders, including prominent rabbis and academics, released a public letter criticising X, formerly known as Twitter, and Musk for allegedly allowing âanti-Semitic discourseâ to âspread like wildfireâ.
Musk, who has said he is âpro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kindâ, previously threatened to sue Jewish civil-rights organisation, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) â accusing them of âtrying to killâ the social media site by âfalsely accusing it and me of being anti-Semiticâ.
Since Musk took over Twitter in October 2022, he has reinstated previously banned users, altered the way news headlines are shown on the platform, and placed certain features, like blue tick verification, behind a paywall.
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