Giant automaker Hyundai has pulled its advertising from Elon Musk's social media platform X after one of its spots appeared in an account that posts antisemitic and other neo-Nazi messages.
"We have paused our ads on X and are speaking to X directly about brand safety to ensure this issue is addressed," Hyundai, the world's third largest car company, told NBC News in a statement.
Hyundai acted after freelance journalist Nancy Levine Stearns posted a screenshot on Wednesday of a Hyundai ad running next to a post from an X account that often posts antisemitic messages, praises Hitler, and denies the Holocaust occurred.
The account for months has had a blue checkmark signaling that it is a paid "premium" subscriber.
NEW: Hyundai Motor America spokesperson emailed me today about its ad on X appearing on a verified “Premium” account that posts pro-Hitler, antisemitic content:
— Nancy Levine Stearns ✍️ (@nancylevine) April 17, 2024
“We are immediately removing from the site. We are updating our parameters to avoid other instances similar to this.” pic.twitter.com/Y2oK8AVjCl
In response to Hyundai, X suspended the neo-Nazi account, according to Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X. Benarroch told NBC that the account violated the platform's ban on "abusive" content, which has apparently existed since its inception.
A separate post denying the Holocaust that appeared near a Hyundai ad will remain on X, however, but will be labeled as violating X's policy on "violent event denial," Benarroch told NBC.
Benarroch told The Hill that Hyundai didn't use X's sales team to place its ads, and therefore failed to "activate" its "brand safety" features that apparently dodge X hate speech.
He said that other measures were being taken to reassure Hyundai about brand safety, though he did not detail them.
It wasn't immediately clear if the changes would satisfy the car company.
Owner Elon Musk has long resisted curbing hate speech on X, claiming it's a matter of free speech. Consequently, X has become a magnet for racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ attacks, according to organizations tracking the platform.
Complaints of attacks on Jews, people of color and gays skyrocketed after Musk purchased Twitter and turned it into X.
An analysis by NBC News earlier this week found that 150 verified premium accounts alone that have "posted or amplified pro-Nazi content."
X claimed NBC did not disclose its full research.
