Walmart joins X boycott
3 Min Read
US retail giant Walmart joins major brands in boycotting X and suspending advertisements on the platform.
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This November 9, 2018, file photo shows a checkout scanner at a Walmart Supercenter in Houston. (AP)
US retail giant Walmart is the latest major brand to abandon X by suspending advertising on the platform. Other major brands include Apple, Coca-Cola, and Disney.
“We've found some other platforms better for reaching our customers,” a Walmart spokesperson explained.
Walmart is considered the largest retailer in the US, reaching half a trillion in domestic sales in 2022.
X boycott campaign
In November, many people left X because Media Matters for America said the platform had shown content that is 'pro-Nazi' and 'anti-Semitic', next to the posts of big advertisers.
X rejected the discoveries, releasing an analysis that proposed Media Matters had tampered with the algorithms using fake accounts.
Read next: US Gov initiates campus 'anti-semitism' monitoring amid controversy
Musk also faced criticism for publicly supporting an antisemitic conspiracy theory in a post on X.
Musk agreed with a user who said Jews hold a “dialectical hatred” of white people, sparking a response with: “You have said the actual truth.” Later Musk backtracked, calling his reply “one of the most foolish” posts he’d ever made on X.
Musk: 'decolonization' against 'terms and conditions' of X
On another note, on the wave of anti-semitic claims against Musk's platform, the owner of X had announced earlier that slogans, chants, and statements calling for "decolonization" are "unacceptable to any reasonable person" and violate the "terms of service" of X and "will result in suspension."
Musk sought to censor all support for Palestinian liberation after 75 years of Israeli occupation.
In a recent post, Colin Wright, an internet personality who supports the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip, claimed that "decolonization" has become "the woke version of jihad," and urged that it be "viewed and treated that way."
Despite a clear misunderstanding of the Arabic word "Jihad" and its usage, reminiscent of former US President George Bush's declaration during the "war on terror" era, where he famously stated, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists," effectively labeling every Arabic speaker as a terrorist, Wright aimed to categorize Resistance movements in West Asia as terrorists during a period of global transformation.
In a response to Wright, the CEO of X claimed that "decolonization", implies "necessarily" a "Jewish genocide" and as such "is unacceptable to any reasonable person."
