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Among the leading Jewish civil rights and anti-bigotry groups in the United States removed more than a thousand pages of radicalism analysis from its site on Tuesday night.

The action followed online backlash from conservative commentators and the X platform owner, who had targeted the group for its recently removed “glossary of extremism”.

Information of the Removed Glossary

The ADL’s resource included more than 1,000 entries that offered contextual details on organizations and belief systems linked to racist, anti-Jewish, and otherwise hateful events.

Pages detailing white supremacist organizations, militias, and antisemitic conspiracies now lead to the landing page for the group's extremism research.

Backlash from Musk and Conservative Profiles

Musk and prominent conservative users on X had targeted the ADL in recent days over the glossary, which included an listing on deceased far right activist the activist's group, Turning Point USA.

He also criticized the group for its page on Christian Identity, responding to posts on X that incorrectly equated that extremist movement with Christians as a whole.

In reality, the phrase refers to a movement which advocates for a religious conflict against Jewish people and other minorities.

ADL’s Response on the Removal

The Anti-Defamation League did not directly address the backlash in its announcement on the decision and instead stated the step would allow the group to “investigate new strategies and fresh methods to deliver our information and present our research more effectively”.

“With over 1,000 entries compiled over many years, the ADL Glossary of Extremism has acted as a source of high-level data on a broad spectrum of topics for a long time,” the ADL stated in a release. “However, an increasing number of listings in the database were outdated.”

The organization also mentioned that a number of listings were intentionally distorted and exploited, and that their specialists have been creating more comprehensive materials and innovative ways to supply details about anti-Jewish sentiment, extremism, and bigotry.

Wider Scrutiny and Internal Challenges

The removal of the resource comes as the Anti-Defamation League has encountered growing scrutiny in recent years from employees and analysts over its shrinking focus to emphasize pro-Israel positions and its repeated defense of Musk.

The organization has seen funding decline and had a senior leader step down after chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt’s statements commending or supporting the billionaire, which has failed to prevent the entrepreneur from publicly attacking the organization.

Initial Purpose of the Glossary

The organization launched its database in recent years, promoting it as a first-of-its-kind resource intended to assist media, the general audience, and law enforcement understand radical organizations and their ideologies.

“We are confident it is the most extensive and intuitive resource on radical rhetoric currently available to the public,” said Oren Segal of the ADL Center on Extremism in a comment at the time. “We believe that an informed society is essential to the protection of democracy.”

The organization's webpage hosting the 2022 announcement now returns a message stating: “You are not permitted to view this site.”

Background of Conflict with Elon Musk

Musk has repeatedly criticized the ADL and in the past threatened to take legal action against the organization for its efforts documenting the growth of antisemitic content on his social media platform.

However, the ADL and Greenblatt came to his defense recently when additional Jewish groups and elected officials condemned what they characterized as him making fascist-style salutes after Donald Trump’s swearing-in.

The ADL labeled it as an “awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm”.

Recent Comments and Broader Campaigns

Musk repeatedly commented about the organization's inclusion of Kirk’s Turning Point USA in its database in the past week, calling the group a “hate group” and implying it encouraged violence.

The entry for the organization did not claim that the organization was an extremist organization, but featured a compilation of incidents of its leadership and activists interacting with extremists or uttering “racist or bigoted statements”.

The following day, Musk persisted to write about the ADL and repeated his claim that it was a “bigoted entity”.

He also participated in another conservative advocacy effort, on this occasion backing demands to boycott the streaming service because one of its cartoon series featured a transgender character.