X Refuses to Run Ad for Documentary Trailer Critical of Musk

X Refuses to Run Ad for Documentary Trailer Critical of Musk

Also rejected ads for other films by the distributor… Meta and YouTube initially blocked but then reversed course

It has been revealed that X (formerly Twitter), the social media service owned by Elon Musk, refused to publish an ad for the trailer of a documentary that critically examines Musk.

According to US IT specialized media TechCrunch and entertainment media Hollywood Reporter on the 27th (local time), X rejected paid advertisements for director Alex Gibney's documentary film 'Musk', which is scheduled to be released next month.

X not only refused advertisements for the 'Musk' film but also rejected advertisements for other films from its distributor, Bleecker Street.

Musk had previously launched strong criticisms, such as "Dog poop deserves more respect than Gibney," through his X account after the film, an official selection of the Venice Film Festival, one of the world's top three film festivals, was released.

Meta and YouTube also initially refused to run ads for the documentary, citing reasons such as it being political content, but reversed their decision after the controversy spread.

Meta stated regarding its decision to refuse the documentary trailer ad, "This action was an error, and we are currently restoring the ad."

YouTube also clarified via its official X account that "when submitted as an ad, it was temporarily restricted by the system, but after review, the ad placement was approved," explaining that the initial blocking was a system error.

Meanwhile, other SNS platforms, including TikTok, are still refusing to run ads for the documentary trailer, citing policies related to political content.

The documentary 'Musk', which runs almost 4 hours, covers Elon Musk's childhood, private life, suspicions of X algorithm manipulation, activities during the Donald Trump administration, connections with far-right political forces, and contradictory or exaggerated statements.

Director Gibney, who directed the documentary, described Musk as "an extremely dangerous individual."

Musk, on the other hand, downplayed the film, saying, "It just gathered people who have a grudge against me," and also raised conspiracy theories that it was orchestrated by Democratic-leaning billionaires such as George Soros.