On Monday, the White House made a significant announcement, revealing its new presence on the social media platform Threads, a competitor to Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter. The decision to join Threads was motivated by recent controversies surrounding Musk's statements on X, which led to widespread criticism and advertiser pullouts.
The White House confirmed the launch of Threads accounts for key figures, including President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, her husband Douglas Emhoff, and the official White House accounts, catering to both English and Spanish-speaking audiences.
President Biden marked the inauguration of his Threads account with a post on his 81st birthday, reassuring followers that despite the change in platform, his message remained steadfast. "Folks, it's President Biden. You're hearing from me today from a new platform, but my message to you hasn't changed," he stated. Biden expressed optimism for the future of America, countering a perceived narrative of a "dark, dismal, divided future."
The strategic move by the White House to embrace Threads comes after Musk, last week, endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory on X to his 163 million listed followers. After one X user claimed that Jews have been encouraging “dialectical hatred against whites'' and referenced the “hordes of minorities that support flooding their country,” Musk suggested that the poster had said “the actual truth.”
White House officials repeatedly rebuked Musk for what they called “anti-semitic rhetoric” on X over the last week.The controversy prompted major advertisers, including Apple and Disney, to pause their spending on X.
Musk, in response to the criticism, defended himself on X without issuing an apology or retracting his statements. He addressed the situation on Sunday, countering media reports that labelled him as antisemitic, stating, "Nothing could be further from the truth."
Threads, created by Meta and overseen by Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg, has rapidly gained traction since its launch in July 2023. With over 30 million sign ups within hours and an estimated 33 million daily active users in the U.S. by October, Threads has emerged as a formidable rival to Musk's X.
While the White House's move to Threads adds credibility to the Threads, Musk's X platform is not without its own defensive measures. Elon Musk's social media platform has taken legal action against a left-leaning pressure group that accused X of permitting antisemitic posts alongside advertising.
