A lawsuit filed last year by Elon Musk’s X against a research group was thrown out Monday, with US District Judge Charles Breyer saying, “This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech.”
In its complaint filed in the Northern District of California, X argued that the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) violated the platform’s terms of service in gathering data for reports that documented a significant increase in hate speech on X following Musk’s takeover.
The company claimed CCDH was responsible for “tens of millions of dollars” in damages due to lost advertising revenue and the expense of internal investigations.
But, Judge Breyer wrote, “there can be no mistaking” that the real motive of the suit was to bully X’s critics into silence.
The decision cited a survey that found “social media researchers have canceled, suspended or changed more than 100 studies about X” as a result of Musk’s policies as CEO.
When asked for comment on the decision, the press email for X replied, “Busy now, please check back later.”
Musk has previously said he is a “free speech absolutist” and that his “thermonuclear” lawsuits against media watchdog groups are about “protecting free speech.”
In his scathing dismissal, Judge Breyer said CCDH exercising its First Amendment rights was the fundamental issue, in spite of X’s attempt to side-step it with arguments about data privacy and security.
In its complaint, X was seeking payment for advertising revenue it says it lost because of CCDH’s reports, but it stopped short of contesting any of the facts in those reports.
“It is apparent to the Court that X Corp. wishes to have it both ways,” Judge Breyer wrote: “To be spared the burdens of pleading a defamation claim, while bemoaning the harm to its reputation, and seeking punishing damages based on reputational harm.
“If there is any question about the “punishing” part,” he added in a footnote, “X Corp. filed a similar suit, not before this Court, in November of 2023 against Media Matters, another non-profit media watchdog, for ‘reporting on ads from major brands appearing next to neo-Nazi content.'”
In a statement, CCDH CEO and founder Imran Ahmed said the lawsuit was part of Musk’s “loud, hypocritical campaign of harassment, abuse, and lawfare designed to avoid taking responsibility for his own decisions.”
“We hope this landmark ruling will embolden public-interest researchers everywhere to continue, and even intensify, their vital work of holding social media companies accountable for the hate and disinformation they host and the harm they cause,” he added.
