Tech Giants Halt Ubisoft Ads on X Amidst Antisemitic concerns

The removal of Ubisoft advertisements from Twitter, also known as X, was disclosed by Axios on Monday.

Concerned that unchecked antisemitic content is circulating on social media platforms, tech companies including Apple, IBM, and Oracle, as well as Hollywood studios including Disney, Paramount, Lionsgate, Comcast, NBCU, and Warner Bros.

Discovery, have ceased running advertisements on the Assassin’s Creed publisher’s platform.

Although Ubisoft has not yet provided an official explanation for why it suspended its Twitter advertisements, the succession of multibillion-dollar companies that have removed their ads from the platform may have influenced the game studio’s choice.

Elon Musk, the proprietor of Twitter, publicly agreed with a post that has garnered significant criticism for its antisemitic content last week.

Musk subsequently voiced additional disapproval of the Anti-Defamation League, a non-profit entity committed to combating antisemitism.

Last week, an article was published by Media Matters, a U.S.-based media watchdog organization, emphasizing the placement of Twitter advertisements for Apple, Bravo, IBM, Oracle, and Xfinity alongside pro-Nazi content.

Additionally, X advertisements for companies such as Amazon and NBC Universal appear alongside white nationalist hashtags, according to a media nonprofit organization.

Several technology and entertainment companies have since ceased advertising on social media in response to this development. IBM told the Financial Times last week, “IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination; we have promptly suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this completely unacceptable situation.”

Since then, advertising executives have urged X CEO Linda Yaccarino, a former employee of NBC, to resign in response to the ongoing controversy, according to a report by Forbes on Sunday.

Yaccarino has condemned antisemitism and discrimination in public. Musk has additionally refuted allegations of antisemitism.