A gesture associated with the Nazis has a surprising history. But in Germany, there was little doubt about its meaning.

“It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute,” the Anti-Defamation League wrote Monday in a statement on Musk’s own social media platform X, referring to Musk’s outstretched-arm movement that came as he was thanking his supporters.

Multiple communities on Reddit have banned links from Elon Musk’s X platform after the tech mogul flashed a gesture that resembled a Nazi salute during an inauguration event. Musk has vehemently denied that his gesture of placing his hand on his heart and quickly extending his arm was a Nazi salute,