Netanyahu Tells Musk He Hopes He Can Work Within The 'Confines' of the First Amendment to 'Stop Anti-Semitism' on Twitter

Chris Menahan
InformationLiberation
Sep. 18, 2023

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's met with Twitter/X owner Elon Musk on Monday as part of a public discussion on the dangers of artificial intelligence.

The Washington Post reported last week the meeting was going to be to discuss "anti-Semitism on X," whereas Musk said it was going to be about AI.

Though it was mostly about AI -- which Israel is seeking to take a leading role in -- Netanyahu also told Musk he hopes he can work within the "confines" of the First Amendment to "stop anti-Semitism" on X.

Musk responded by saying he's "against attacking any group, doesn't matter who it is."

"Obviously I'm against anti-Semitism, I'm against anti— really anything that promotes hate and conflict," he added.

WATCH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells Elon Musk he hopes he can work within the "confines" of the First Amendment to "stop anti-Semitism" on X. pic.twitter.com/MiGQAgm1TP
— Chris Menahan 🇺🇸 (@infolibnews) September 18, 2023

Musk also told Netanyahu that posts "reported as hate speech" are "deamplified."

Skip to 1:01:

After Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu urges @ElonMusk to censor anti-Semitism on X, Musk promises to “de-amplify” so-called hate speech.

Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/KrLdCkiozc
— AF Post (@AFpost) September 18, 2023

AI Roundtable with @elonmusk, @gdb, and @tegmark https://t.co/98chyR5OWL
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) September 18, 2023

AI Roundtable with @elonmusk, @gdb, and @tegmark https://t.co/Ym3smNWTTb
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) September 18, 2023

As I reported in May, the Biden White House's first-ever "National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism" -- which was developed in concert with pro-Israel groups like the Anti-Defamation League -- called on "all online platforms" to ban "extremist websites," ban "hate speech" and institute "zero tolerance" policies to protect Jews from anti-Semitism.

There's nothing in the First Amendment about banning the criticism of certain groups or banning the promotion of "hate" and there's nothing in there about prohibiting "hate speech."

It was reported last month that X partnered with an Israeli digital ID company to provide premium users with an "optional" way to verify their identity by sharing selfies and their government ID.

🚨 👀 X is seemingly working on adding government ID verification with Israeli digital ID company AU10TIX. To verify by ID, users will have to upload a selfie and a photo of their government ID. via @X_ALERTS_ pic.twitter.com/gXTChLeFWJ
— Reclaim The Net (@ReclaimTheNetHQ) August 16, 2023

Last week, X CEO Linda Yaccarino pledged to expand X's censorship policies and appears to have banned multiple accounts to please the Center for Countering Digital Hate -- which X is actively suing for defamation.

The weird thing about this is X is currently suing the CCDH, but still apparently banning accounts on the basis of their reports. https://t.co/oI9k30Opeo pic.twitter.com/KulfmtRGWS
— Keith Woods (@KeithWoodsYT) September 15, 2023

As promised, we're following up on the recent report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) on how X allegedly moderates content. Our hope is that in the future the CCDH will share the full report with us proactively and prioritize partnership over publicity. We have… https://t.co/uxQELjg2L2
— Safety (@Safety) September 15, 2023

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