Anyone who tries to pressure X (formerly Twitter) through advertising can \u201cgo f**k yourself,\u201d the platform\u2019s owner, tech billionaire Elon Musk, said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Musk at the DealBook Summit event on Wednesday whether his recent trip to Israel was \u201can apology tour\u201d prompted by allegations of anti-Semitism on X that caused many major advertisers to ditch the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hope they stop. Don\u2019t advertise,\u201d Musk responded, to Sorkin\u2019s shock. \u201cIf someone\u2019s going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money? Go f**k yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGo. F**k. Yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is,\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s how I feel. Don\u2019t advertise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Musk bought Twitter last year for an estimated $44 billion, objecting to the platform\u2019s censorship. He has since rebranded it to X, fired much of the staff, and unbanned many accounts in the name of promoting free speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this month, several major corporations pulled their ads from X, following a report by the advocacy group Media Matters for America (MMFA) that claimed the platform displayed them next to \u201cpro-Nazi\u201d and \u201canti-Semitic\u201d content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
X responded<\/a> by publishing an analysis showing that Media Matters manipulated the algorithms with fake accounts to falsify its claims. Musk has filed a lawsuit against the Democrat-linked operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n