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X
sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate last July, accusing
it of trying to "scare" advertisers away by claiming that Musk
was doing little to stop hate speech, racist posts and other
misinformation from overwhelming the platform.
According to X, the nonprofit improperly scraped and
cherry-picked data to create false and misleading reports,
hoping to silence those it disagreed with on hotly disputed
topics such as COVID-19 vaccines, reproductive health and
climate change.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate countered that it was
Musk, a self-proclaimed free speech absolutist, who was
attempting the silencing.
The center said it was not liable for how advertisers reacted to
its non-defamatory reports about publicly available content on
X, and that the lawsuit violated California's so-called anti-SLAPP
law, or strategic lawsuits against public participation.
The nonprofit also denied X's claim that commercial rivals and
perhaps foreign governments were bankrolling its efforts.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco will
consider the dismissal request at a hearing. It was unclear
whether he would rule immediately.
The European Climate Foundation, which promotes efforts to
mitigate climate change, is also a defendant.
Musk, the world's second-richest person, bought Twitter for $44
billion in October 2022.
He has since faced much criticism for firing too many people at
X who policed misinformation, and for allowing more harmful and
abusive posts.
Musk in November 2023 endorsed an antisemitic post on X that
said members of the Jewish community were stoking hatred against
white people, saying the user was speaking "the actual truth."
He has denied being antisemitic and sought to make amends for
his post. In January he visited former Nazi death camp Auschwitz
in southern Poland.
Advertisers have fled X since Musk bought it and reduced content
moderation that has resulted in a dramatic increase in hate
speech on X, civil rights groups have said.
Musk is also chief executive of electric vehicle maker Tesla,
which has faced several lawsuits claiming it tolerated
harassment of workers.
The case is X Corp v. Center for Countering Digital Hate Inc et
al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.
23-03836.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Richard
Chang)
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