The World Bank has halted all paid advertising on Elon Musk’s X after CBS News accused the social media platform of promoting ads under racist content.
An advertisement for the World Bank appeared in the comment section of a verified X account with more than 115,000 followers that posted “a racist image alongside a post praising Europe’s colonization of Africa,” according to a report by CBS News.
“The World Bank Group had already reduced its paid marketing on X while working with the platform to implement the strongest safety protocols X offers for our content,” a World Bank spokesperson told CBS News.
“This latest incident is entirely unacceptable, and we are immediately ceasing all paid marketing on X,” the spokesperson added.
CBS News also noted that “a promoted advertisement from Saudia Airlines,” also “showed up under the same post as the World Bank advertisement,” adding that it reached out for comment.
The outlet seemed to suggest it wouldn’t receive a reply, as it proceeded to immediately point out that “Kingdom Holdings, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate operated by members of the country’s royal family, is a key investor in the X platform,” and “Saudia Airlines is owned by the government of Saudi Arabia.”
CBS News went on to report that it has also reached out to Nordace, noting that the company’s paid advertisements “showed up under white nationalist or pro-Nazi posts on X” on at least five occasions.
Musk oftentimes lauds the right to free speech on his social media platform.
Earlier this year, for example, the SpaceX CEO declared, “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy. That’s why it’s the FIRST Amendment. Without free speech, all is lost.”
On Saturday, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France under a warrant involving a “lack of moderation” on his encrypted messaging service. Musk reacted to Durov’s arrest, calling it an “ad for the First Amendment” that is “very convincing.”
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
