• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechElon Musk

Elon Musk might have kicked Kanye West off Twitter, but the Anti-Defamation League says the CEO needs ‘clear policies, not personal intervention’

By
Alena Botros
Alena Botros
Former staff writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Alena Botros
Alena Botros
Former staff writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 5, 2022, 5:52 PM ET
Photo of Elon Musk
Elon Musk.Muhammed Selim Korkutata—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Twitter’s chief Elon Musk suspended Kanye West’s account last week after the rapper known legally as Ye posted a photo of a swastika inside the Star of David.

The Tesla billionaire previously chose to reinstate West’s account that was suspended for anti-Semitic remarks in October, before Musk took over the social media platform. 

“I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence,” Musk wrote. 

But despite his decision to remove West, individual judgments on what qualifies as hateful speech from the richest man in the world do not make a coherent content moderation strategy, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt. 

“We all want to give Elon an opportunity, but he’s got to show some progress,” Greenblatt told CNBC on Monday. “He personally intervened about Kanye and took that account down. He personally intervened [with] another account a few weeks ago that was promoting anti-Zionist hate—that’s great. But we need clear policies, not personal intervention.”

Musk has portrayed himself as a free-speech advocate and has said that he purchased Twitter for “the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of healthy beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.” But his takeover of Twitter was followed shortly by an increase in hateful speech. Soon after Musk took over, he laid off around 50% of the company, including members of the content moderation team. Yoel Roth, the head of Twitter’s trust and safety team, left the company last month after he said the “system of governance went away.”

Greenblatt has previously met with Musk to discuss fighting hate on Twitter, acknowledging that Musk has taken on an “extraordinary challenge,” with his acquisition of the platform. 

“Whether we like it or not, Twitter is the public square,” he said. “But it shouldn’t be a firing range, right? I think it’s really challenging for us in an environment where hate and incitement is thriving on the platform.” 

Greenblatt said Musk knows that brand safety is linked to user safety, as advertisers are a major part of Twitter’s business model. 

However, he said, it’s still a challenge moving forward in establishing user safety. 

“Does he have clear and transparent policies to support that idea, and is he resourcing it effectively? That’s what I’m not sure about,” he said. 

Twitter experienced an advertiser exodus in the early weeks of Musk’s purchase of Twitter—with companies like General Mills and Pfizer suspending their ads in fear of Musk’s content moderation protocol. Musk has made a point over the past few days to highlight companies that he says have returned to the platform, like Apple, which he said has “fully resumed” advertising, Bloomberg reported. 

“Twitter is incredibly complicated. It’s not going to be solved overnight. But the reality is a lot of brands have not gone back on the platform because they still haven’t seen the clear and transparent policies,” Greenblatt said. 

Twitter did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment. 

Our new weekly Impact Report newsletter will examine how ESG news and trends are shaping the roles and responsibilities of today's executives—and how they can best navigate those challenges. Subscribe here.

About the Author
By Alena BotrosFormer staff writer
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Alena Botros is a former reporter at Fortune, where she primarily covered real estate.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

kiara
AIstart-ups
Exclusive: Peter Thiel-backed industrial AI startup emerges from stealth in a16z ‘American Dynamism’ push
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 9, 2026
2 hours ago
AIMeta
As billionaires bail, Mark Zuckerberg doubles down on California with $50 million donation
By Sydney LakeFebruary 9, 2026
2 hours ago
Thasunda Brown Duckett, TIAA CEO, speaks onstage during a live taping of "Earn Your Leisure" at Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College on January 22, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.
FinanceFortune 500 Companies
Meet the 10 Black Fortune 500 CEOs leading companies with over $412 billion in combined revenues
By Cheyann HarrisFebruary 9, 2026
5 hours ago
ceo
CommentaryLeadership
The next 18 months of the agentic era will feel like a slow-motion stress test for CEOs. Most will make the same critical mistake
By Amy Eliza WongFebruary 9, 2026
7 hours ago
Side-by-side photos of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei
AIOpenAI
OpenAI vs. Anthropic Super Bowl ad clash signals we’ve entered AI’s trash talk era—and the race to own AI agents is only getting hotter
By Sharon GoldmanFebruary 9, 2026
7 hours ago
A girl carrying a bag of tennis balls and a tennis racket gets into the backseat of a car.
North AmericaLyft
Lyft introduces feature to help get teenagers out of the house: ‘The problems of 2026 are social isolation and too much screen time’
By Sasha RogelbergFebruary 9, 2026
8 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
Elon Musk warns the U.S. is '1,000% going to go bankrupt' unless AI and robotics save the economy from crushing debt
By Jason MaFebruary 7, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Russian officials are warning Putin that a financial crisis could arrive this summer, report says, while his war on Ukraine becomes too big to fail
By Jason MaFebruary 8, 2026
22 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Commentary
America marks its 250th birthday with a fading dream—the first time that younger generations will make less than their parents
By Mark Robert Rank and The ConversationFebruary 8, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Commentary
We studied 70 countries' economic data for the last 60 years and something big about market crashes changed 25 years ago
By Josh Ederington, Jenny Minier and The ConversationFebruary 8, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Gen Z Patriots quarterback Drake Maye still drives a 2015 pickup truck even after it broke down on the highway—despite his $37 million contract
By Sasha RogelbergFebruary 7, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Tom Brady is making 15 times more as a commentator than he did playing in the big game thanks to $375 million contract 
By Eva RoytburgFebruary 8, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.