MANILA, Philippines – US district judge Charles Breyer dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), an independent research nonprofit organization that tries to make social media companies accountable for hate speech and human rights issues.

The lawsuit, filed on July 31, 2023, accused CCDH of violating X’s terms of service when it released a study pointing to X not taking action against 99% of hate speech posted by its paid subscribers.

X blamed CCDH’s report for a downturn in revenue, by amplifying brand safety concerns which might give advertisers cause to stop paying for ads on X.  The suit claims X suffered losses of “at least tens of millions of dollars” due to CCDH’s publications.

The Verge’s report said Breyer opened his decision, which was released on Monday, March 25, by saying there are times when “a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose. This case represents the latter circumstance. This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech.”

Breyer noted that “X Corp has brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp – and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism.”

“It is impossible to read the complaint and not conclude that X Corp is far more concerned about CCDH’s speech than it is its data collection methods,” Breyer added.

A Reuters report said X plans to appeal the decision.

Holding social media companies accountable

CCDH CEO and founder Imran Ahmed said in a blog post on the dismissal of the suit that the organization “has remained quietly confident in the quality and integrity of our research and advocacy. Our aim has always been to alert the world to corporate failures that undermine human rights and civil liberties.”

Ahmed added, “The courts today have affirmed our fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold accountable social media companies for decisions they make behind closed doors that affect our kids, our democracy, and our fundamental human rights and civil liberties.”

Aside from the hope that the US would implement federal transparency laws “to protect the public’s right to know about the platforms that shape so much of our public discourse and democracy,” Ahmed said he hoped the ruling would “embolden public-interest researchers everywhere to continue, and even intensify, their vital work of holding social media companies accountable for the hate and disinformation they host and the harm they cause.”

Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer for CCDH, said in a statement that the dismissal of the suit showed that Musk “cannot bend the rule of law to his will.”

Kaplan is grateful to the court, which she said “refuses to allow Elon Musk and X Corp. to weaponize the courts to censor good-faith research and reporting.”

“We are living in an age of bullies, and it’s social media that gives them the power that they have today,” she added. – Rappler.com