The league has since deleted more than a thousand pages of its extremism research, perhaps most notably the ADL’s Center for Extremism. This change followed a huge outcry from right-wing influencers and elite individuals, like Elon Musk. These efforts came after Musk called the ADL a “hate group” and struck the ADL for including certain organizations on its list. He highlighted the ADL’s extremist glossary released in 2022, which serves as a resource for journalists, law enforcement agents and the American public to understand extremist groups and their radical ideologies.
The ADL’s Glossary of Extremism is an expertly compiled, easily searchable resource with thousands of entries built over decades, recording the constantly evolving beliefs and outreach of extremist organizations. Perhaps most famously, the glossary’s definition of the rightwing group Turning Point USA, founded by Charlie Kirk, has man baby-meme exploded on social media. That recent controversy prompted a seismic shift. Today, the ADL’s pages on neo-Nazi groups, militias, and antisemitic conspiracies all lead to a new landing page for its research on extremism.
Recently however, Musk and other influential right-wingers on X have set their sights squarely on the ADL. They are calling into question the organization’s integrity and purpose. Musk went on to express his annoyance with the ADL’s glossary definitions. He objected primarily to the inclusion of Kirk’s organization, calling out the ADL for spreading hate and calling for violence.
Earlier this year, Musk threatened to sue the ADL over its documentation of rising antisemitic content on his social media platform. This threat followed Musk’s controversial actions and statements that drew widespread condemnation from various Jewish organizations and lawmakers. Whether a change would occur in the ADL’s leadership remains in question. Staff and researchers alike have taken to calling out the organization for putting pro-Israel advocacy over human rights and defending Musk.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the ADL, defended Musk when other Jewish organizations were denouncing him. They called him out for delivering fascist-inspired salutes. This defense resulted in an enormous loss of donors. As a consequence, an influential and very high-ranking executive inside the organization felt he had no choice but to resign.
Following the ADL’s backlash, Oren Segal, the senior-vice president of the ADL Center on Extremism, got to work. He proceeded to crow about how they had limited access to certain pages. Education advocates were understandably dismayed at the removal of such a critical glossary. Thousands of users view it as an indispensable tool for tracking and researching extremism, specifically.
“We believe it is the most comprehensive and intuitive resource on extremist speech currently available to the public.” – Oren Segal
This past Friday the ADL recognized that some entries in its glossary have outdated in their use.
“With over 1,000 entries written over many years, the ADL Glossary of Extremism has served as a source of high-level information on a wide range of topics for years. At the same time, an increasing number of entries in the Glossary were outdated,” – The ADL
Additionally, the organization was alarmed at some intentional misrepresentation and misuse of its content by bad actors trying to discredit the organization and undermine its authority.
“We also saw a number of entries intentionally misrepresented and misused. Moreover, our experts have continued to develop more comprehensive resources and innovative ways to provide information about antisemitism, extremism and hate.” – The ADL
Unfortunately, users trying to access some pages on the ADL’s extremism research are being blocked. Instead, they face messages that tell them their access stops here. The organization appears to be reassessing its approach amidst this turbulent environment, which reflects ongoing tensions surrounding discussions of extremism and free speech in America.