Elon Musk's 'frivolous' lawsuit against hate speech watchdog dismissed by US judge
Elon Musk, X
A US judge on Monday (Mar 25) dismissed Elon Musk's 'frivolous' lawsuit against a non-profit that blamed him for allowing a rise in hate speech on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
US District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said that Musk's case against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) was retaliatory in nature.
Criticism not allowed
Judge Breyer said it was "evident" that Musk's X Corp had sued CCDH in an attempt to punish the NGO for its criticism of X.
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"X Corp has brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp—and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism," wrote Breyer.
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"It is impossible to read the complaint and not conclude that X Corp is far more concerned about CCDH's speech than it is its data collection methods," he added.
X Corp, as per Reuters, has expressed its intention to appeal the decision, which is seen as a setback for Musk, known for championing free speech.
Since acquiring Twitter in October 2022, Musk has faced criticism for allowing hate speech and misinformation on the platform.
Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH, welcomed the decision, stating that it reaffirms the group's right "to hold accountable social media companies for decisions they make behind closed doors."
Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer for CCDH, remarked that the ruling shows Musk "cannot bend the rule of law to his will."
In the lawsuit filed last July, X had accused CCDH of violating its user contract by cherry-picking data and creating false reports about hate speech and extremism on X.
Calling it a "scare campaign", X had alleged that the non-profit was driving away advertisers and caused tens of millions of dollars in damages.
It also argued that the non-profit could have left the platform if it didn't like Musk's policy changes.
The court ruled that CCDH could not have anticipated Musk's takeover of Twitter and subsequent policy changes when it signed up with the platform.
However, Breyer agreed that X's desire to staunch criticism was "entirely reasonable from a business point of view."
The ruling also dismissed X's claims against the European Climate Foundation (ECF), which was accused of conspiring with CCDH. ECF's lawyer welcomed the dismissal, calling Musk's lawsuit "frivolous".
(With inputs from agencies)
