Liberian leader George Weah hailed for his sportsmanship after accepting defeat
Across the divide, there is relief that Liberia's leader and ex-football star conceded to his rival.
2023-11-20 06:47
Asian Stocks Set for Mixed Open as US Rally Stalls: Markets Wrap
Asian stocks are set for a mixed open after a $2.7 trillion rally in US shares fueled by
2023-11-20 06:18
Dollar Scarcity is Pushing More African Countries to Crisis
African governments are scrambling for dollars, and that’s creating a new dividing line for investors. Amid a deepening
2023-11-19 20:24
South Africa Says $12.5 Billion Loans to Help Link Cape to Grid
Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. will use a portion of $12.5 billion multilateral loans toward delivering power to areas
2023-11-19 19:53
Israel Latest: Focus Turns to Gaza’s South in Next Stage of War
Israel said it was entering the “next stage” of the six-week-old war with Hamas, turning its attention to
2023-11-19 15:54
India Seen Keeping Rice Export Bans Into 2024, Holding Up Global Prices
India, the world’s top rice exporter, is expected to maintain its curbs on overseas sales well into next
2023-11-19 10:18
Miami was this close to ending Louisville’s College Football Playoff hopes
The Miami Hurricanes were yards away from having the most impactful game of the weekend as they were a couple yards short of beating Louisville
2023-11-19 09:15
Global Rate-Hike Marathon May Keep Going in Nordics
Central banks in the US, euro zone and the UK are done raising interest rates for now, but
2023-11-19 05:57
In the Market: Looking at the Top QB Prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft Class, Week 11 edition
A closer look at how the top 2024 NFL Draft quarterbacks performed in Week 11 of the college football season.
2023-11-19 03:22
Disney and Apple suspend ads on Elon Musk’s X after he endorses antisemitic tweet
Since Elon Musk took over Twitter last year and converted it into X, critics have warned that his plans for the popular social network could lead to an explosion of hate on the platform. Now, blue-chip advertisers like Apple and Disney are reportedly fleeing X amid an outbreak of antisemitic content on the site — including posts from the billionaire owner himself. X’s content policy ostensibly forbids “targeting individuals or groups with content that references forms of violence or violent events where a protected category was the primary target or victims, where the intent is to harass” including “text that refers to or depicts…genocides, (e.g., the Holocaust),” but antisemitic and pro-Nazi content continues to appear on the network. Mr Musk attracted widespread condemnation on Wednesday when he responded to a tweet echoing claims of the racist and often antisemitic “great replacement” theory, including that Jewish people were “flooding” America with “hordes of minorities” to promote “dialectical hatred against whites, calling the claim “the actual truth.” That theory was among the hateful ideas directly referenced by the gunman who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history. Later, Mr Musk singled out the Anti-Defamation League, a civil rights advocacy group that monitors antisemitism and forms of extremism, claiming the group promotes “de facto anti-white racism.” ADL CEO responded to the claims, calling them “dangerous.” “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,” he wrote on X. The White House also weighed in, accusing the tech CEO of spreading “abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate.” “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,” the White House said in a statement. But the controversy was only just beginning. The following day, Media Matters for America, a left-leaning media watchdog group, published an analysis showing advertisements from major brands like Apple, NBCUniversal, IBM, and Oracle appearing alongside openly pro-Nazi tweets on X. In one example, a post claiming Hitler and the Nazis represented a “spiritual awakening” appeared right above an ad for Apple’s Mac computers. Taken together, amid the already tense cultural backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, seemed to be a breaking point for major advertisers, who were already wary of what the new X/Twitter would look like. On Thursday, IBM told the Financial Times it had “suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation.” A source at Apple told Axios that the company was doing the same, and a Lions Gate Entertainment spokesperson confirmed that it too was joining the exodus. Disney has also paused spending on X, The New York Times reports. The Independent has contacted X for comment. Company leaders at X have appeared alternatively apologetic and nonchalant. “X’s point of view has always been very clear that discrimination by everyone should STOP across the board – I think that’s something we can and should all agree on,” CEO Linda Yaccarino wrote on Thursday on X. “When it comes to this platform – X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There’s no place for it anywhere in the world – it’s ugly and wrong.” Mr Musk, for his part, alternated between jokes and explanations. He shared a clip of someone playing a video game level called “Echo of Hatred,” with the caption “defeating hatred is never easy,” while also endorsing a post about a book that claims IBM punch-card technology enabled the Nazis to carry out the Holocaust. “Clear calls for extreme violence are against our terms of service and will result in suspension,” he wrote elsewhere on X on Friday. Though this week has taken controversy on X to new heights, it’s not the first time the social network has been accused of enabling antisemitism. In September, Mr Musk threatened to sue the ADL, blaming the watchdog group for “trying to kill this platform” with accusations of antisemitism. “To be super clear, I’m pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind,” he added. At the time, the ADL told The Independent it wouldn’t comment on legal threats, but noted Mr Musk happened to be working on the same side as a “Ban the ADL” campaign created by self-described antisemites. “ADL is unsurprised yet undeterred that antisemites, white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and other trolls have launched a coordinated attack on our organisation. This type of thing is nothing new,” the ADL spokesperson said. “Such insidious efforts don’t daunt us. Instead, they drive us to be unflinching in our commitment to fight hate in all its forms and ensure the safety of Jewish communities and other marginalised groups.” Elsewhere, the network has been accused in recent days of allowing neo-Nazis to profit from X’s creator revenue-sharing programme. This summer, a study from the Center for Countering Digital Hate alleged X failed to take down 99 per cent of a selection of hate content flagged by the group. The group alleged that “the platform is allowing them to break its rules with impunity and is even algorithmically boosting their toxic tweets.” X disputes the findings. Read More White House condemns Elon Musk’s ‘abhorrent’ promotion of antisemitism IBM pulls ads from Elon Musk's X after report says they appeared next to antisemitic posts IBM suspends advertising on X after appearing next to pro-Nazi posts Corporate, global leaders peer into a future expected to be reshaped by AI, for better or worse Elon Musk under fire for calling antisemitic conspiracy theory the ‘actual truth’ Starmer accuses Sunak of ‘fanboying’ over Elon Musk in heated exchange
2023-11-18 16:51
Israel Latest: Ground Assault May Be Extended to South Gaza
Israel said its ground offensive in the north of the Gaza Strip may be expanded to the south
2023-11-18 15:19
Sunak’s Fight for Survival Steers UK Toward Another Cliff-Edge
Rishi Sunak’s first public words after the Supreme Court struck down his plan to deport asylum seekers to
2023-11-18 14:20