Elon Musk’s X loses lawsuit against hate speech watchdog CCDH

A US judge threw out on Monday. Elon Musk’s A lawsuit against a nonprofit group that found it guilty of allowing the proliferation of hate speech on its social media platform X, first Twitter.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said it was “clear” that Musk’s X Corporation sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) because he didn’t like his criticism, and thought his research would damage X’s image and scare away advertisers.

“X Corp has brought this case for prosecution. CCDH to CCDH publications that were critical of XCorp — and perhaps to deter others who might wish to engage in such criticism,” Breyer wrote.

“It is impossible to read the complaint and conclude that X Corp is more concerned about CCDH’s speech than its data collection practices,” he added.

X said in a statement that it plans to appeal.

The decision is a blow to Musk, the world’s third-richest person, who has styled himself as a champion of free speech for years.

But since paying $44 billion for Twitter in October 2022, it has faced widespread criticism from civil rights groups for firing many people who spread misinformation, and allowing more harmful and abusive posts. have faced.

Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said in a statement that Breyer’s decision reaffirms his group’s right to “hold social media companies accountable for the decisions they make behind closed doors.” “

Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for the nonprofit, said the decision shows Musk “cannot bend the rule of law to his will.”

Musk and X have also faced a number of other lawsuits, including claims by former Twitter executives that Musk improperly blocked the split, and claims by vendors that they have not been paid.

TeslaThe electric vehicle maker, which Musk runs, has faced several separate lawsuits claiming it tolerated worker harassment. He has denied these claims.

Possession of musk is not estimated.

X accused the Center of violating a 2019 user agreement to create false and misleading reports that Musk made X a haven for hate speech, extremism and misinformation.

According to X’s complaint filed last July, the nonprofit designed its “scare campaign” to drive away advertisers, causing tens of millions of dollars in damages.

X had argued that the nonprofit was bound by Musk’s policy changes, and that he could leave Twitter if he didn’t like them.

Breyer agreed that X’s desire for harsh criticism was “entirely reasonable from a business perspective.”

But he said the nonprofit didn’t anticipate when it signed up with Twitter that Musk would eventually take over and how it moderated user content.

Breyer also dismissed X’s claims against the European Climate Foundation, a non-profit organization based in The Hague, Netherlands that promotes efforts to mitigate climate change.

X accused him of conspiring with the Center for Countering Digital Hat to illegally collect data.

ECF’s lawyer, Nathaniel Bach, said the nonprofit is grateful for the dismissal of Musk’s “frivolous” lawsuit.

Musk’s own speech has also often drawn complaints.

In November 2023, Musk endorsed an anti-Semitic post on X that said members of the Jewish community were spreading hatred against white people, saying the user spoke “the real truth”.

Musk has denied being anti-Semitic and has made efforts to make amends, including a January visit to the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz in southern Poland.

The case is X Corp v. Center for Countering Digital Hat Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 23-03836.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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