Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, announced Monday on X, formerly Twitter, that she was quitting the social media site because it had devolved into a “gigantic global sewer” for disinformation, hatred, anti-Semitism and racism, and a “tool for destroying our democracies.”Without naming Elon Musk directly, she added: “This platform and its owner intentionally exacerbate tensions and conflicts.”In recent weeks, dozens of advertisers paused their campaigns on X after Mr. Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory this month, and the company could lose as much as $75 million in ad revenue by the end of the year.
Mr. Musk has strenuously denied that he is antisemitic or that the site supports disinformation, and visited Israel on Monday in an apparent bid to repair the damage.
He met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who took him to an Israeli kibbutz where dozens of people were killed during the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7.
Mr. Musk was scheduled to meet later with President Isaac Herzog to discuss “the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online.” Israel also appeared to reach an understanding to deploy Starlink, the satellite internet service Mr. Musk owns, in Gaza for aid agencies to use amid cellular and internet blackouts.
Persons:
Anne Hidalgo, Elon Musk, Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu, Isaac Herzog, ” Israel
Organizations:
Elon
Locations:
Paris, Israel, Gaza