Elon Musk And Benjamin Netanyahu's Plans To Meet, Discuss An Increasing Anti-Semitic Speech On X?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Elon Musk. (photo: twitter @netanyahu)

JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fly to California on Monday 18 September to meet Elon Musk. The owner of Platform X has been accused by human rights groups, reinforcing anti-Jahudi hatred on his X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.

An official at Netanyahu's office on Thursday, September 14 confirmed the meeting. Musk said on X that their talks would focus on artificial intelligence technology and not the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which was at odds with Musk over anti-Semitism on X.

The prime minister's office said Netanyahu, who is a supporter of Israel's high-tech sector, would meet Musk and other entrepreneurs in the development of artificial intelligence.

The Washington Post, which first reported on Musk-Netanyahu's meeting, cited five people familiar with the situation as saying the meeting was the latest move in Musk's campaign of Jewish partners and allies to stop growing criticism over the increase in anti-Semitic talks on X.

Hate speech on X has increased dramatically since Musk bought the site last year and relaxed security for content moderation. Musk said US ad revenue fell 60% last week.

Human rights groups, including the Center for Countering Digital Hate and ADL, have issued findings that the volume of hate speech in X has grown rapidly under Musk's leadership, who is also the CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla.

"There is nothing special about this meeting considering that the Israeli technology sector is one of the most innovative and dynamic in the world. However, Israelis and Jews are often targeted by anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic hatewords on Twitter/X and we hope they will have productive meetings and talk about ways to fight anti-Semitism and anti-Zionist hate speech on the platform," said an ADL spokesperson.

The news of the meeting drew criticism from UnXeptable, a movement launched by Israeli citizens disturbed by the political direction that tends to the right. The group announced it would organize protests in San Jose and San Francisco on Monday.

"Obviously it is unacceptable that Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the world's only Jewish state, who calls himself Israel's protector, flew across America seeking advice and support from well-known aides from anti-Jahudi hate speech," said Offir Gutelzon, tech entrepreneur and co-founder of UnXeptable.

In December, ADL recorded an increase in anti-Semitic content on the platform and a drop in anti-Semitic posting moderation since Musk took over. Center for Countering Digital Hate said the daily use of racist words against blacks under Musk's leadership tripled the average of 2022 and harsh words against gay men and trans people rose 58% and 62%.

Without providing evidence, Musk blamed critics for the decline in advertising revenue. He specifically accused the pressure from ADL, which he began calling a "Slander League", including in his statement on X on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Musk joined the conversation on X with the hashtag #BantheADL, adhered to by white nationalists and anti-Semitics, and asked his followers if he should do polls on the platform. He was involved in conversations with users expressing anti-Semitic views during the discussion.

"The moderation policy of X's new content has made it difficult to convince brands that this social media platform is safe for advertising," former brand security chief and advertising quality AJ Brown told Reuters in an interview this month.

Netanyahu is also scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden in New York next week. The prime minister's office said the two leaders would meet during a prime minister's visit to the UN General Assembly, where the two are scheduled to speak, but did not specify the exact location of the meeting.

In addition, Netanyahu is also scheduled to meet with other world leaders at the United Nations, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.