Major social platforms decline paid ads for Alex Gibney’s Musk documentary; distributor appeals

The useful part

Now, as if following his lead, pretty much all of the major social media sites are refusing to run ads for the movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The platforms — YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook — are unwilling to accept paid advertising for the film. The stonewalling has reportedly taken distributor Bleecker Street by surprise, with the company scrambling to figure out why its ads have been so widely rejected.

How it works

• This claim centers on how the documentary supposedly promotes a debunked conspiracy theory that Musk used his Starlink satellites to help Donald Trump secure votes in the 2024 presidential election.
• All Major Social Networks Refusing to Promote Documentary That Made Elon Musk Mad Shutterstock / Kathy Hutchins For the past few weeks, Elon Musk has been throwing a tantrum — and throwing around legal...
• YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook and Instagram owner Meta have all provided a reason related to "political content" to the distributor for why they turned down the ad, per the reporting.
• This line of reasoning feels specious: although TikTok and Facebook by policy don't allow political ads, neither the movie nor its trailer are part of a political campaign.
• It's an even stranger argument for YouTube, which has no prohibitions on political advertising.

What to take from it

If, as what appears to be happening, the tech industry is closing ranks around one of its own, it would be an astonishing testament to Musk's influence and would represent an ominous threat to free speech. Musk has been raging against the film since it was first announced in 2023, calling it a "hit piece," even though there were barely any details about it at the time. Bleecker Street has appealed to the social media sites over the rejected trailer ads.

Example or evidence

• "These ads were rejected in error and have been restored," a Meta spokesperson told us after we first ran this story.
• Elon Musk Has Been Calling Women "Breeders" Since His First Marriage, His First Wife Says.article-sidebar]:pt-0">

Details worth keeping

Of course so is X, the site owned by Musk himself. The nearly four-hour film, titled "Musk," is a comprehensive and critical look at the billionaire's life, beginning with his upbringing in South Africa and running through his success as a tech entrepreneur and his rise as a major and polarizing political figure. In the past month, he's ramped up his attacks against the documentary, calling Gibney a "douchebag" and accusing him of being "incredibly biased." He also, via his lawyer Alex Spiro, threatened to sue Gibney's production company Jigsaw Productions for defamation.

Related coverage

• Hollywoodreporter: YouTube, TikTok and Meta have all turned down the trailer for the Oct. 9 doc, citing "political" content. X won't even take Bleecker Street's calls. The distributor is appealing.
• Mashable: YouTube, TikTok, Meta, and X won't run paid ads for Alex Gibney's "Musk" documentary.
• Boingboing: Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.
• Techmeme: Steven Zeitchik / The Hollywood Reporter: Sources: YouTube, TikTok, and Meta's Instagram and Facebook declined to run paid ads for Alex Gibney's Musk documentary, citing "political content" — YouTube,...
• Gizmodo: YouTube, TikTok, and Meta's Facebook and Instagram all seem to be either chickening out or taking Elon Musk's side.