Elon Musk, owner of Twitter and CEO of Tesla, faced criticism this week for his controversial tweets attacking George Soros, a billionaire philanthropist who recently sold his entire stake in Tesla.   

 

Musk claimed Soros “hated humanity” and compared him to Magneto, a X-Men comic book villain who, like Soros, is a Holocaust survivor. Many people have called out Musk for propagating harmful narratives that could embolden antisemites and lead to further attacks on Soros, a frequent target for antisemitic conspiracy theories. Following his tweet, Musk reaffirmed his position by defending his right to free speech in a television interview.  

 

Musk has come under scrutiny since purchasing Twitter for his embrace of free speech absolutism. He has unbanned previously suspended accounts, including known Nazi sympathizers, which has contributed to a noticeable increase in hate speech on the platform.

 

Linda Yaccarino was named Twitter's next CEO by Elon Musk last Friday. Some of those who have applauded Musk’s recent changes to the platform criticized her appointment, fearing she will do more to address hate speech and the incendiary dialogue that has grown on Twitter in recent months. 

 

Conspiracy theorists criticized Yaccarino for working with the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is a common target of antisemitic conspiracies that assert a group of Jewish elites control the world. Those opposing Yaccarino have labeled her a “neo-liberal wokeist.”

 

Adversaries also pointed to Yaccarino’s support for the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism’s Stand Up to Jewish Hate campaign as evidence of her association with Jewish conspiracies. Yaccarino served as NBC Universal's global advertising chief before being named Twitter CEO and promoted the campaign’s ads on several NBC programs.

The United Nations General Assembly commemorated the “Nakba” for the first time on Monday. The “Nakba,” or “the catastrophe,” is the name given by Palestinians to remember the day when Israel declared its independence in 1948.

 

Jewish community leaders condemned the UN commemoration. Online conversations were divisive. Many people joined the commemoration and showed support for Palestine while others shined a light on the antisemitic narratives inherent with “Nakba.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made countless antisemitic remarks while addressing the UN event. Abbas compared Israel to Nazi Germany and claimed there was no connection between the Jewish people and the Temple Mount, a holy Judaic site since the First Century BCE. U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt denounced Abbas’ comparison and called it “an affront to Holocaust victims.” The event was boycotted by numerous countries including Israel, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and India.

 

 

 

 

info@fcas.org | fcas.org