X sues organization for monitoring hate speech over Twitter report

The social network X has sued a non-profit organization in a U.S. federal court over reports that hate speech is flourishing on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

X, owned by Elon Musk, accused the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) of producing ‘inaccurate’ analyses that have cost the tech company tens of millions of dollars.

However, the legal basis cited in the lawsuit filed in San Francisco late Monday is that the non-profit organization violated the terms of service on X due to the way it accessed data for its reports.

CCDH’s CEO Imran Ahmed claimed on Tuesday that Musk’s legal move is an attempt to silence critics in the same way autocrats do.

Ahmed stood by the group’s research, stating that it shows hate and misinformation are ‘spreading like wildfire’ on Musk’s X.

In the lawsuit, the eccentric billionaire is seeking an unspecified monetary damages award from the court and is asking CCDH to cease the way it has been obtaining data for its reports.

The lawsuit claims that CCDH and its parent organization in the UK are ‘activist organizations masquerading as research agencies.’

X further claims in the lawsuit that the non-profit organization improperly accessed data to ‘cherry-pick’ information to support reports showing that the rebranded Twitter is rife with harmful content.

– Musk is trying to shoot the messenger who highlights toxic content on his platform instead of dealing with the toxic environment he has created – Ahmed said in a statement.

– Musk will not make us silent – he added.

Since Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October last year, the platform’s advertising business has collapsed due to backlash against his management style and mass layoffs at the company that reduced content moderation.

In response, the entrepreneur has moved towards building a subscriber base and payment model in search of new revenue.

Many users and advertisers have reacted negatively to the new fees on the social media platform for previously free services, changes in content moderation, and the reinstatement of previously banned right-wing accounts.

In December, Musk reactivated the Twitter account of former President Donald Trump, although Trump has yet to return to the platform.

X recently reinstated rapper and designer Kanye West about eight months after his account was suspended.

Last fall, West, who now performs professionally as Ye, posted an image that appeared to show a swastika intertwined with a Star of David, and Musk suspended the artist from the platform he had purchased weeks earlier.