Elon Musk's X Makes Good On Its Threat, Sues Nonprofit Over Hate Speech Allegations
For years the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) has researched and reported on hate speech and misinformation online to stop its spread among social media sites such as X, formerly known as Twitter. The research company found that over the past year, hate speech has skyrocketed on the X platform after Musk took over and subsequently reinstated previously banned accounts and loosened up the site's rules. Independent researchers at the nonprofit speculated that Musk lets hate speech fester on the site because it brings in substantial money from advertisers. Regardless, the CCDH has continued to monitor the platform and posts its findings, all of which have been critical of Musk's handling of harmful content on the site.
As what many saw as retaliation against the nonprofit, X Corp. threatened to take legal action against the research company earlier this week. The company argued that the nonprofit falsely targeted and attacked the social media platform. Today, we found this was no empty threat, as documents reveal that Musk's legal team has filed suit against the CCDH. Its accusations, however, have onlookers raising their eyebrows.
In its response, the CCDH stated that it is not taking this lying down. It also had some harsh words to say about Musk.
X Corp. believes the CCDH is purposely driving advertisers away
A District Court of California document uploaded by Variety reveals that X Corp. is suing the Center for Countering Digital Hate for allegedly hand-picked select posts on the social media platform to "falsely claim it had statistical support showing the platform is overwhelmed with harmful content." X corp. claims that this supposed campaign is a direct attack against the platform to scare advertisers away. The social media company then stated that many advertisers have stopped working with the site due to the nonprofit's reports.
Later in the document, X Corp. argued that the CCDH is more than what meets the eye, saying it "is being supported by funding from X Corp.'s commercial competitors, as well as government entities and their affiliates." This is an incredibly bold statement, and the nonprofit has responded by aggressively refuting it.
CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed told HuffPost, "Elon Musk's actions represent a brazen attempt to silence honest criticism and independent research." The nonprofit also called Musk a hypocrite, claiming that "he is happy to allow neo-Nazis back on Twitter," but doesn't want to get exposed by independent researchers about how harmful it is. CCDH's CEO, in his official statement, argued that Musk is looking for someone to blame for his incompetence. He added that the company will continue its operations and that "Musk will not bully us into silence."