X Corp, owned by Elon Musk, Files Lawsuit Against Anti-Hate Organization Over Its Studies

According to Bloomberg, X Corp (also known as Twitter) has taken legal action against The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) after previously threatening to do so. The lawsuit alleges that the anti-hate organization is engaging in illegal “scraping” of Twitter’s servers and selectively choosing hateful posts as part of a deliberate effort to frighten away advertisers. Court documents filed in San Francisco federal court state that X Corp is seeking unspecified financial compensation and a restraining order preventing the CCDH from accessing its data.

In June, the center published a research paper alleging that X explicitly allowed racist and homophobic messages, despite a policy to the contrary, even when they were reported. However, X responded that CCDH used a poor method and failed to examine all 500 million messages on the service each day. It also alleged that the center took funding from competitors or foreign governments as part of a “backward agenda,” according to The New York Times.

In a new blog post, “Protecting the public’s right to free expression,” Twitter/X explained its reasoning for filing legal action against CCDH. “X is a free public service largely funded by advertisers. Through CCDH’s campaign of intimidation and its constant pressure on brands to block public access to free expression, CCDH is actively working to stifle public dialogue,” the post states.

It went on to say that CCDH scraped and accessed its data without permission from Brandwatch, a Twitter partner that provides “consumer and market insights,” “brand tracking” and more. It added that the CCDH “study” cited in the Bloomberg article included metrics used to make an out-of-context claim about X (formerly Twitter).”

“Therefore, X has filed legal action against CCDH and its supporters,” it stated. It also accused CCDH of “targeting people on all platforms who speak about things that CCDH does not agree with,” “attempting to force the removal of users whose views do not align with CCDH’s ideological agenda,” and more.

In a letter published earlier today, CCDH countered Twitter’s earlier allegations. It noted that it never claimed to conduct comprehensive research and documented the methods it used. It wrote that X did not provide any concrete examples and said it does not accept funding from companies or governments. It further stated that it would “not be bullied”, continue to publish its research and that a lawsuit over “frivolous” claims could prove risky.

“The public has a right to know if and how @ElonMusk’s leadership has led to an increase in hate speech on Twitter,” the nonprofit tweeted earlier. “By threatening us, Musk is trying to hide the truth about his own failures. Platforms must be held accountable for spreading hate and lies.”