A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s X Corp. against the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate, which documented the company’s The increase in hate speech on the site since.
X (formerly Twitter) argued that the center’s researchers violated the site’s terms of service by improperly editing public tweets, and that the center’s subsequent report on the rise in hate speech cost X numbers as advertisers fled. One million U.S. dollars.
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer dismissed the lawsuit, writing in an order that it “unabashedly and vigorously promoted one thing” — speech that punished the nonprofit.
X claims the nonprofit “scraped” data from its website, violating its terms of service. But the judge found that X failed to “claim losses based on technical harm”—that is, the company failed to show how the scraping caused X financial losses.
X is seeking millions of dollars in damages, claiming the nonprofit’s reporting resulted in lost advertisers and advertising revenue.
But the judge agreed with CCDH’s argument that X could not seek damages for the independent conduct of a third party based on CCDH’s report or its “speech.”
The center is a non-profit organization with offices in the United States and the United Kingdom. It regularly publishes reports on hate speech, extremism or harmful behavior on social media platforms such as X, TikTok or Facebook. The group has published several reports critical of Musk’s leadership, detailing a rise in anti-LGBTQ hate speech and climate misinformation since his acquisition.
In a statement released to X, the social media platform said it “disagrees with the court’s decision and plans to appeal.”
Imran Ahmed, the center’s founder and CEO, said the lawsuit amounted to a “hypocritical campaign of harassment” by a billionaire who discussed Protects free speech but then uses his wealth to try to silence critics. He said the lawsuit demonstrates the need for a federal law requiring tech companies to release more information about their operations so the public can understand how these powerful platforms shape society.
The center isn’t the only group to point to an increase in hateful content on X since Musk’s acquisition in October 2022. In November, several large advertisers, including IBM, NBCUniversal and its parent Comcast, said they were halting advertising on X. The liberal advocacy group Media Matters reported that their ads appeared alongside material praising Nazis. This is yet another setback as X tries to win back big brands and their advertising revenue (X’s main source of revenue). X also sued Media Matters.
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