IBM suspends ads on X after anti-semitic content

The multinational American technology corporation namely IBM (International Business Machines) suspends ads on X formerly known as Twitter after anti-semitic content.

IBM has suspended advertising on X following reports that its advertisements were placed on tweets supporting Adolf Hitler and Nazism. The company says it decided to pull its advertising from X as Elon Musk continues to agree with anti-semitic posts.

IBM suspends ads on X after they appeared next to Nazi posts https://t.co/Un5Wf8tQiV
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 17, 2023

IBM suspends ads on X after anti-semitic content

IBM’s Stance on pulling advertisements from X

IBM called the posts “completely unacceptable” that its content appeared in such posts on social media platforms. According to X, it does not purposely place brands “next to this kind of content”.

It comes after Elon Musk, the owner of X, received criticism for calling an antisemitic conspiracy theory “actual truth” in response to a post on Twitter.

According to the left-wing organization Media Matters for America, it found ads purchased by IBM and other firms next to posts including Hitler quotes, Nazi glorification, and Holocaust denial.

Media Matters released a report yesterday stating that ads for IBM, Apple Inc., Oracle Corp., Comcast Corp.’s Xfinity brand, and the Bravo television network running on X pro-Nazi posts.

Media Matters posted that Elon Musk supports the anti-Semitic replacement theory that inspired a mass shooting as the “actual truth”. White nationalists are already celebrating.

Elon Musk praises the antisemitic replacement theory that motivated a mass shooting as the “actual truth.” White nationalists are already celebrating. https://t.co/5MQYNfgBaR
— Media Matters (@mmfa) November 16, 2023

Click here to read the updates on Elon Musk unveiled Grok AI chatbot to compete with ChatGPT

After the report of Media Matters, IBM announced the suspension of advertising on the social media network X. IBM told The Financial Times that the company has a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech and discrimination.

Therefore, the firm has immediately suspended all advertising on X. While it investigates this completely unacceptable scenario.

However, X told the BBC that ads are not deliberately placed next to extremist content. The Nazi-promoting accounts will not earn money from advertising and specific posts will have the label “sensitive media”.