Hemphill: Elon Musk is allowing antisemitic speech on X. Users can stop it

The platform formerly named Twitter has been placing advertisements from major brands next to posts spreading neo-Nazi, white nationalist and anti-LGBTQ content. 

University of Michigan School of Information associate professor Libby Hemphill says this content has been allowed to thrive since Musk’s takeover. Hemphill, an expert on social media and hate speech, talked with Salon about the consequences of Musk’s actions and what it means for advertisers on X. 

She says users can pressure advertisers to disengage from the platform. At least two companies suspended ad campaigns on the social media website after their ads appeared next to an account promoting Nazism. 

"Public backlash can be a powerful motivator to get brands to pressure ad platforms to change their policies or restrict the types of ad content allowed near a brand," Hemphill says. "Of course, the ad contracts are pretty one-sided. Brands would have to be willing to push platforms to change their terms, and platforms would have to be willing to enforce more policies."

Hemphill says “brands and advertisers have more power than users right now” since they’re the ones offering financial incentive to X, but consumers can “pressure advertisers and platforms by not clicking on ads, writing to brands and recruiting their friends to do the same.”

“Users can also pressure their representatives to pass legislation changing the rules about who is accountable."

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Read “‘Bolder and more aggressive’": Elon Musk's X placing major brand names next to antisemitic content’” on Salon. 

Learn more about associate professor Libby Hemphill by visiting her UMSI faculty profile.