Pro-Hitler Account 'New American Union' Suspended from X

At least two major organizations have paused advertising on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, after their ads appeared on an avowedly pro-Hitler account called "New American Union."

California-based pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences and the NCTA - The Internet & Television Association told CNN they halted their ads on the platform after the liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America reported several companies' ads had appeared on an X profile titled "New American Union," which included memes and content sympathetic to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

Nazi Brand-jacking

A source familiar with the matter told the New York Post the two brands have resumed advertising on X after receiving an explanation from the company. The source added that the account of the "New American Union" has been suspended.

However, NCTA disputed the source's contention, saying its pause remained in effect as of Thursday afternoon (August 17).

"We take the responsible placement of NCTA ads very seriously and are concerned that our post about the future of broadband technology appeared next to this highly disturbing content," NCTA spokesperson Brian Dietz told The Post.

X's Plan to Win Back Advertisers

Meanwhile, X responded that the companies whose ads appeared on the timeline of "New American Union" were following individual users who happened to migrate to the pro-Nazi account.

"No brand is specifically asking to be a part of that site," the company said. "That's not how it works."

The Elon Musk-owned company added that brands follow people they would like to target. It added the account in question only had a few followers and had "no reach, no virality in general." This meant the ad impressions that did run were "so minuscule."

X also said it would be "evaluating if there will be changes and tweaks to their current control settings for advertisers" after its CEO Linda Yaccarino was given a mandate by Musk to win back advertisers who fled the platform following his acquisition of the company.

Before the pro-Nazi account's suspension, Media Matters listed several brand names whose ads appeared on the profile, including the Atlanta Falcons, Major League Baseball, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times Company-owned sports news site The Athletic, Office Depot, Samsung, Gallup, and USA Today.

Gilead has yet to comment on the matter as of this report.