Elon Musk's X Under Fire: Advertisers Shocked as Prominent Brands Appear on White Supremacist Account

In a shocking turn of events, Elon Musk's social media platform, X, has come under intense scrutiny as prominent brands discover their advertisements appearing on the verified profile of VDARE, a notorious white supremacist outlet. Despite X's claims of industry-leading brand safety tools, the reality tells a different story. 

In the past 24 hours, a review by Reliable Sources has unveiled that major companies and organizations such as Amazon, Samsung, the Denver Broncos, Cox Communications, STARZ, The Wall StreetJournal, The Michael J. Fox Foundation, the University of Missouri, New York Waterway, Axios, Puck, Ad Age, Morning Brew, and the Asian Development Bank have all had their ads displayed on VDARE's account.

The mere fact that X permits such a publication on its platform, granting it monetization and visibility, raises serious concerns. While other platforms like Facebook and YouTube have banned VDARE, X continues to monetize their hate speech, calling into question the company's ethics and commitment to brand safety.

X appears to be aware of this issue, as the NFL recently expressed concern about their ads being displayed on accounts with racist content, including VDARE's. Surprisingly, X has taken little action to address the problem, continuing to place ads for globally recognized companies on a white supremacist outlet's account.

Linda Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal advertising executive now with X, has claimed that the platform takes extensive measures to prevent ads from appearing near hate speech. However, the reality contradicts these claims.

In a statement, X admitted the need for improvements to ensure brand safety: "X cares about the health and safety of the platform for all its users, advertisers, and publishers.

Amid this controversy, some brands expressed strong displeasure. STARZ immediately suspended all advertising on X, stating that racist hate speech goes against their brand values. New York Waterway found the news disturbing and expressed a commitment to avoiding hate speech-related organizations. Puck's editor-in-chief enacted measures to prevent a recurrence of their ad appearing on VDARE's profile.

The University of Missouri disapproved of organizations promoting intolerance, while Cox Communications is investigating the matter. The NFL pointed to its previous concerns regarding ads on racist accounts. Other organizations declined or did not respond to requests for comment.

It is astonishing that major companies continue to advertise on X, considering its content moderation problems. As advertising executive Lou Paskalis noted, appearing alongside racist and antisemitic content poses significant risks to brands, undoing years of hard work dedicated to diversity and inclusion initiatives. One incident of this nature could outweigh any advertising benefits, emphasizing the need for brands to reconsider their presence on the platform.