The Obnoxious Absurdity of Elon’s Threat to Sue the Anti-Defamation League for Defamation

Elon Musk spent a lot of time this past Labor Day weekend stomping his feet about the Anti-Defamation League’s criticism of The Platform Formerly Known as Twitter, threatening to sue the organization for defamation “[t]o clear our platform’s name on the matter of anti-Semitism.”

Musk can certainly make a lot of noise with his 150 million-plus Twitter followers creating one of the world’s biggest megaphones and obsessive media coverage rivaled perhaps only by former President Donald Trump, but legal doctrine does not grant him a right to civil damages just because he can shout the loudest.

Musk’s feud with the ADL was sparked by its support for an effort in November 2022 urging advertisers to “pause Twitter spending because we are profoundly concerned about antisemitism and hate on the platform.”