In response to the appearance of pro-Nazi content on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, South Korea’s leading automaker Hyundai has decided to halt its advertising. This decision comes after a sponsored post from Hyundai was found next to anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi posts.
What Happened: The automaker confirmed that it had paused its advertising on X. The company also stated that it was addressing its concerns about brand safety with Musk’s company, reported NBC News.
"We have paused our ads on X and are speaking to X directly about brand safety to ensure this issue is addressed," Hyundai said in the statement.
A freelance journalist and X user, Nancy Levine Stearns, recently posted a screenshot of a Hyundai ad running on an X account that frequently posts Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism. The account in question has been suspended by X for violating its policy against abusive profiles.
Hyundai’s ad ran on the profile of a user who has defended Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. This account, which had a blue checkmark indicating it was a paid “Premium” subscriber, has been suspended by X.
Despite the suspension, the account continued to post pro-Nazi content. X has been under fire for becoming a hub for pro-Nazi content under Musk’s ownership. This has led to a significant backlash from advertisers, with many major companies halting their advertising on the platform.
Hyundai did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.
Why It Matters: This is not the first time that X has faced backlash over anti-Semitic content. In November, IBM suspended its advertising on X after its ads were found next to posts promoting Hitler and the Nazi Party. This led to a widespread advertiser backlash, with companies like Apple, Oracle, and Xfinity also having their ads displayed next to hateful content on the platform.
Following this, X faced a potential loss of up to $75 million in advertising revenue by the end of the year. This was due to major advertisers like Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery temporarily halting their advertising campaigns on X in response to Musk’s endorsement of an anti-Semitic post.
Despite the backlash, Musk stayed resilient, stating that he was sticking to his principles after reports of several big companies pulling advertisements from X due to his posts supporting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
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