Neil Young joins boycott of X following Elon Musk’s antisemitic tweets

Neil Young has announced he is boycotting the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, following a series of antisemitic tweets issued by the company’s owner Elon Musk last Wednesday.

Musk re-posted a tweet from user @breakingbaht which read, “Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them,” and further claimed “western Jewish populations” were disliked by minority groups “flooding their country.”

The Tesla founder commented on the original post, writing, “You have said the actual truth.” The action shocked even Musk’s many critics, who have time and time again called out the multibillionaire for racist and bigoted statements, most often made via X/Twitter.

You have said the actual truth

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2023

Young is an ardent social activist, having founded and supported a variety of charitable organisations since his rise to fame in the ‘60s, and joins many figureheads and companies who have left X since Musk’s tweet sparked online backlash.

On his website, Young wrote, “We are stopping all use of X that we can control. For reasons that should be obvious to the richest man on Earth, we are taking this action against his company.”

The singer-songwriter also shared an image of Musk with the memorable caption: “Tesla should fly flags of love – not hate.”

Young further stated that he wishes for peace amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, writing, “We do need to start over in the present and release our terrible connections to the past. As bad as they are, they need to be forgotten so we can be free to move on in life together, all humanity, focused on saving our planet for future generations of all people.”

The singer has also boycotted Spotify since January 2022, after claiming the company’s top-listened Joe Rogan podcast spread misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.

Adding to the backlash surrounding Musk’s bigoted comments, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said Friday in a statement, “It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of Antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. We condemn this abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans.”

Apple, IBM and Disney are among the major US companies that promptly stopped advertising on the platform following Musk’s condemnation.

Tesla, SpaceX and X Corp. leader Musk is the richest person in the world, with a net worth of around $225 billion. In addition to his support of the initial tweet on X, Musk expanded upon his beliefs, directly singling out “Jewish communities,” the nonprofit Anti-Defamation League, and minorities for what he called “anti-white” messaging and views, without giving examples to support his accusations.

Credit: EU News.

He wrote that he does not believe hatred of White people extends “to all Jewish communities,” but then targeted the Anti-Defamation League, claiming that it promotes racism against White people. The Jewish-led nonprofit works to fight antisemitic incidents, racist discrimination and hate crimes in the U.S.

Musk shared, “The ADL unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel. This is because they cannot, by their own tenets, criticise the minority groups who are their primary threat. It is not right and needs to stop.”

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt responded to the controversy, stating, “It is indisputably dangerous to use one’s influence to validate and promote antisemitic theories.”

At a time when antisemitism is exploding in America and surging around the world, it is indisputably dangerous to use one's influence to validate and promote antisemitic theories. #NeverIsNow pic.twitter.com/vVlyOeoS5x

— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 16, 2023

Musk has previously threatened to sue the ADL for defamation after the organisation claimed antisemitism had surged on X after Musk took over the platform more than a year ago. He blamed the ADL, rather than his own business decisions, for a 60% drop in revenue at X and said he had “no choice” but to file a defamation lawsuit against the group. However, a lawsuit has yet to come to fruition.

Musk’s promotion of the original tweet aligns with an antisemitic conspiracy theory which claims that Jews want to bring undocumented minority populations into Western countries to reduce White majorities in those nations. It is a theory often proclaimed by extreme hate groups, and one which was echoed in the final written words of Robert Bowers, the convicted murderer of 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018.

Powers’ final social media post read that a Jewish nonprofit aided refugees who strive to “bring invaders in that kill our people.” The mass shooting remains the deadliest attack against Jews in American history.

Musk continues to vehemently deny claims he is antisemitic, responding to the entire controversy, “bogus … I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all.”