X, the Elon Musk-owned social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has filed what Musk called a "thermonuclear" lawsuit against liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America for allegedly defaming the platform after a published report supposedly revealed how advertisements for major advertisers appear next to posts with allegedly antisemitic rhetoric.

In the complaint filed in the US District Court in Fort Worth on Monday (November 20), X alleged that Media Matters "exploited" the platform's features of allowing users to control the content they see on their feed by creating a secret account designed to evade normal safeguards and manipulate "every aspect of the system through which posts and advertisements appear, ultimately creating the side-by-side images of objectionable content and advertisements," The Hill reported.

The social media platform also alleged Media Matters of only following 30 users on its secret account, less than the average user follows on X, further noting that the watchdog's "excessive scrolling and refreshing" generated between "13 and 15 times more advertisements per hour" than the usual rate seen by a typical user, which sought to "force a situation in which a brand ad post appeared adjacent to fringe content."

"​The overall effect on advertisers and users was to create the false, misleading perception that these types of pairings were common, widespread, and alarming," the lawsuit read. "Media Matters hid its manipulations through omissions, deceptive image selections, misrepresentations, and secrecy settings."

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(Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Tesla and SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk during an in-conversation event with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Lancaster House on November 2, 2023, in London, England. Sunak discussed AI with Elon Musk in a conversation that is played on the social network X, which Musk owns.

Lawsuit a Response to Claims Musk's Antisemitic Takes

X was forced to file the lawsuit after Media Matters published its report on X last week, detailing how major advertisers on the platform had their ads shown alongside white supremacist content.

The report prompted major companies such as IBM, Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, and Apple to announce they were leaving X. The European Union has also halted its advertising on the platform.

The watchdog's report was also triggered after Musk responded to an allegedly antisemitic X post, which he denied was a support for antisemitism. X CEO Linda Yaccarino also responded that the platform was actually against antisemitism.

"The split-second court opens on Monday, X Corp will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company," Musk wrote.

Texas's Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton also announced on X that he has launched an "investigation into Media Matters for potential fraudulent activity," noting Musk's accusation of the liberal watchdog "manipulating data."

"If you know me, you know I'm committed to truth and fairness," Yaccarino added. "Here's the truth. Not a single authentic user on X saw IBM's, Comcast's, or Oracle's ads next to the content in Media Matters' article."

In response, Media Matters president Angelo Carusone said they would stand by its reporting and called the lawsuit "frivolous" that was meant to "bully X's critics into silence."

"Media Matters stands behind its reporting and looks forward to winning in court," he added.

The White House has since criticized Musk's alleged antisemitic tweets.

Media Matters has named controversial liberal philanthropist George Soros as one of its major donors.

Related Article: Elon Musk Says Claims About Him Being Antisemitic are Bogus