IBM pulled its advertising presence from Twitter as Elon Musk continues to imply antisemitism and white pride in the Israeli-Israeli conflict

IBM has pulled its advertising presence from X, formerly Twitter, as Elon Musk continues to endorse far-right talking points — agreeing with posts this week that promoted antisemitism and pushed support for white pride. The nonprofits Media Matters and the Financial Times pointed out that IBM had an ad on X that was next to pro-Nazi and pro-Hitler content, not posted by Musk.

In September, Musk held a public talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who asked Musk to do more to “roll back” hate against Jews on his platform.

He never sued, but he hasn’t dropped the vendetta, and if anything, he’s expanded it. When another X user pushed Musk to clarify that his complaint is with the ADL and not Jewish communities in general, Musk responded that it “does not extend to all Jewish communities, but it is also not just limited to ADL.” He posted that he opposed any group that promoted racism and was against the ADL and any other group who advocated anti- white or anti- Asian racism.

The liberal watchdog group Media Matters released a new report this week that found a number of major companies, including Apple, Amazon, Oracle NBCUniversal’s Bravo network had advertisements showing up alongside antisemitic posts on the site.

For months, Musk has attempted to find other ways to make money on the social media platform, including charging for “verified” blue checks in a subscription service, but none of his efforts have have gained momentum, just as the company’s advertising base appears more rickety than ever.

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X’s chief executive Linda Yaccarino attempted to contain the fallout and lessen the hit to the company’s wallet, writing on the site that X’s stance “has always been very clear that discrimination by everyone should STOP across the board,” adding that: “There’s no place for it anywhere in the world — it’s ugly and wrong. Full stop.

Musk tapped Yaccarino, the former head of advertising at NBCUniversial, in large part to help bring back major advertisers to the platform since Musk acquired it last year and unleashed drastic changes. A surge of hate and conspiracy theories have arisen from Musk’s loosened rules about what can be posted to the site.

The Anti-Defamation league’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote on the platform that it is indisputably dangerous to use one’s influence to promote antisemitic theories.

“Advertisers like IBM and Apple aren’t just big names, they’re big spenders on X,” says Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters, a media watchdog group which has been tracking advertiser behavior on X. Carusone, citing data shared by data insights firm Sensor Tower, says that in July, the top five advertisers on X by spending were Apple, FinanceBuzz.io, Amazon, Mondelez International, and Hewlett-Packard. Apple has usually been among the top advertisers on X.

Apple typically signals a certain level of brand safety to other advertisers. The company has strict policies around content in its App Store and other platforms. If Apple has paused, or plans to pause, its advertising on X, it “could have a halo effect,” Carusone claims, scaring other advertisers away from the platform. “It goes way beyond money.”