When the hashtag #BantheADL suddenly blew up on Twitter with more than 89,000 posts Thursday and Friday as part of an ongoing campaign to defame the Anti-Defamation League, Elon Musk joined in.

“Elon Musk likes my call to #BanTheADL,” tweeted @keithwoodsyt, a pseudonym for the far-right Irish activist Keith O’Brien. “The people have spoken, we want free speech!”....

The campaign against the ADL alleges that the organization is hindering free speech by demanding that social media platforms sanction neo-Nazis and other extremists who promote antisemitism, racism and other bigotry.

O’Brien’s original post accused the ADL of “financially blackmailing social media companies into removing free speech on their platforms. … Why should they have a platform on X to hold @elonmusk to ransom?” ....

Responding to a request from the Forward for comment, the ADL said it was “unsurprised yet undeterred that antisemites, white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and other trolls have launched a coordinated attack on our organization. This type of thing is nothing new.”

The organization said the onslaught follows “a meeting with the leadership of X, formerly known as Twitter, that clearly upset these hateful groups.”.....

The ADL said that “such insidious efforts don’t daunt us. Instead, they drive us to be unflinching in our commitment to fight hate in all its forms and ensure the safety of Jewish communities and other marginalized groups.”