Judge dismisses X’s lawsuit against anti-hate group

A judge has dismissed X’s lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that studies hate speech on the platform owned by Elon Musk. In the ruling, the judge said the lawsuit was an attempt to “punish” the organization for criticizing the company.

X sued the CCDH last summer, accusing the group of using its platform as part of a “whistleblowing campaign” aimed at harming its advertising business. The group had published research claiming that to respond to reports of hate speech and, in some cases, encouraged such content.

In , Federal Judge Charles Breyer said “this case seeks to punish” the CCHR for publishing unflattering research. “It is clear to the Court that if X Corp. was indeed motivated to spend money in response to CCDH scraping in 2023, it was not because of the harm that such scraping posed to platform X, but because of the harm it posed to X. Corp. », Wrote Breyer. “The motivation of X Corp. to bring this case is obvious. X Corp. filed this action to punish the CCDH for its publications criticizing X Corp. – and perhaps in order to dissuade others.

X said it was planned decision.

In , CCDH CEO Imram Ahmed said the decision “affirmed our fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold social media companies accountable for the decisions they make behind closed doors” . He added that “it is now abundantly clear that we need federal transparency laws” that would require online platforms to make data available to independent researchers.