X’s lawsuit against the body that monitors intolerance speech on the platform is dismissed

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A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Elon Musk’s X Corp. against the nonprofit Center Against Digital Hate, which has documented the rise of bigotry speech on the site since it was acquired by the owner of Tesla.

X, formerly Twitter, argued that the center’s researchers violated the site’s terms of service by improperly compiling public tweets and that their subsequent reporting on the rise of bigotry speech cost

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Charles Beyer dismissed the lawsuit, writing in his ruling that it was “blatantly and vehemently about one thing”: Sanctioning the nonprofit for its speech.

X had argued that the agency “scraped” its site for data, which is against its terms of service. But the judge found that X failed to “alleged losses based on technological damage.” Which means that the company did not demonstrate how the scraping caused financial loss to X.

X attempted to obtain millions of dollars in damages, arguing that the agency’s reports caused an exodus of advertisers and loss of ad revenue.

However, the judge agreed with the center’s argument and said that X cannot seek compensation for damages for the independent acts of third parties based on the center’s reports or its “speech.”

The center is a non-profit organization with offices in the United States and the United Kingdom. It periodically publishes reports on the speech of intolerance, extremism or harmful behavior on social networks such as X, TikTok or Facebook. The agency has published several reports critical of Musk’s leadership, detailing an increase in intolerance speech against the LGBT community as well as climate misinformation since his acquisition.

In a statement published on X, the social network said it “disagrees with the court’s decision and we plan to appeal.”

Imran Ahmed, the center’s founder and CEO, said the lawsuit represents a “hypocritical harassment campaign” by a billionaire who talks about protecting free speech but then uses his wealth to try to silence his critics. He added that the lawsuit demonstrates the need for a federal law requiring tech companies to disclose more information about their operations, so the public can understand how these powerful platforms shape society.