NFL denounces hate speech, says it has expressed concerns to Elon Musk’s X

By Oliver Darcy, CNN

(CNN) — After days of silence following X owner Elon Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic post, the NFL said Tuesday that it has conveyed its displeasure with the social media company.

“The NFL unequivocally denounces all forms of hate speech and discrimination,” Brian McCarthy, the NFL’s chief spokesperson, said in a statement.

“We’re aware of instances of hate speech on X and have expressed our concerns directly to X both in the past and again in the last few days,” McCarthy added.

The NFL is one of X’s highest profile advertisers. But it had been silent amid backlash following Musk’s embrace of an antisemitic conspiracy theory.  Earlier this year, the NFL also expressed concern after a Media Matters report found the league’s ads were appearing next to racist accounts on the social media platform.

But more than a week after the Media Matters report, a CNN review also found that advertisements for NFL teams were running on the account of a notorious white supremacist publication.

McCarthy on Tuesday, however, notably did not indicate in his statement that the NFL would suspend advertisements — a decision that has been taken in recent days by a torrent of other major brands, including Apple, Disney, NBCUniversal, and Warner Bros. Discovery — CNN’s parent company.

Earlier Tuesday, an NFL executive told CNBC that it was sticking with the platform despite the rise in hate speech.

“I think X is in a very difficult business because of the content moderation that they have to deal with,” said Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s chief media and business officer. “We continue to work with them because our fans are clearly there.”

The-CNN-Wire
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