SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced that his office is quitting Twitter. In a press release Monday, Rosen — who presides over the largest prosecutor’s office in Northern California — accused Twitter owner Elon Musk of being complicit with hate speech.

“Some think that allowing hatred, encouraging it, and standing beside it equates with free speech and constitutional liberty. That is not a principled stand,” wrote Rosen. “That is complicity. That is what many Germans did in the 1930s and what many South Africans did in the 1980s. It is what Elon Musk is doing in the 2020s.”

Musk’s short tenure at the helm of Twitter has been riddled with controversy. The Tesla CEO has laid off about half of the social media company’s staff, demanded remaining workers to sign a pledge to work long hours at extreme pace, and moved to reinstate previously banned accounts belonging to Marjorie Taylor Greene, former President Donald Trump and others who’d been previously banned from the platform.

While Musk maintains he’s made such moves in the name of free speech, critics have noted a sharp rise in hate speech on the platform. Rosen called the move “a cynical marketing strategy” and accused Musk of “hiding behind the curtain of being a defender of balanced public dialogue.” He also accused Musk of spreading antisemitic memes.

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“In a new deleted Tweet, Mr. Musk used the antisemitic meme Pepe the Frog,” Rosen wrote. “If antisemitism is okay, then so is homophobia, misogyny and racism. That may help Mr. Musk make money. But it can erode our democracy and destroy our country by dividing Americans against each other.”

Rosen called on other district attorneys around the country to join him “in standing against hatred and bigotry by leaving Twitter.”

District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s full official statement

“As Americans, we have the freedom to loudly express our political opinions and strongly disagree with each other. However, when that speech crosses the line into hatred, racism, and antisemitism, all of our precious and hard-fought freedoms are undermined, and our democracy is weakened. Every American has a moral obligation to fight against hate speech. There are many ways to do that, large and small. Here’s one way: Quit Twitter. My Office – the largest prosecutor’s office in Northern California – is quitting Twitter,” Rosen wrote.

“Some think that allowing hatred, encouraging it, and standing beside it equates with free speech and constitutional liberty. That is not a principled stand. That is complicity. That is what many Germans did in the 1930s and what many South Africans did in the 1980s. It is what Elon Musk is doing in the 2020s,” Rosen wrote.

“Anyone who uses Twitter has noticed the proliferation of extremist posts in their daily feed. Many of these handles were previously banned by Twitter because they spread hatred and bigotry. Now they are back. That is not free speech. It is a cynical marketing strategy,” Rosen wrote.

“Mr. Musk is hiding behind the curtain of being a defender of balanced public dialogue. Yet he himself has used Twitter to spread hatred and bigotry. In a now-deleted Tweet, Mr. Musk used the antisemitic meme Pepe the Frog. If antisemitism is okay, then so is homophobia, misogyny, and racism. That may help Mr. Musk make money. But it can erode our democracy and destroy our country by dividing Americans against each other. I ask other District Attorneys around our nation to join me in standing against hatred and bigotry by leaving Twitter. We proudly represent the People, all of them. As American prosecutors, we speak with one voice – against crime, violence, greed, and hatred. We don’t need 280 characters or a Billionaire’s app to say, ‘Bigotry has no home in the land of the free and the home of the brave,'” Rosen wrote.