On Monday, the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, initiated legal action against a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating hate speech and disinformation. The lawsuit claims that the nonprofit made unfounded assertions that prompted advertisers to reconsider their investments in the platform.
Reports from US media indicate that X, which is under the ownership of Elon Musk, delivered a letter to the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) threatening litigation for unspecified damages.
In its reply to the letter, CCDH’s legal representatives accused X of attempting to intimidate advocates working against incitement, hate speech, and harmful content online. They contended that the accusations made by X lacked factual support.
The legal dispute arises from a media article released in July, which highlighted findings from CCDH’s research indicating a rise in hate speech directed at minority groups on the platform.
X, along with CEO Linda Yaccarino, dismissed the report as inaccurate, asserting that it relied on “a compilation of misleading, incorrect, and outdated metrics,” primarily drawn from the period shortly after the acquisition of Twitter.
In a blog post published the same day, X stated that the CCDH had accessed its data without authorization, claiming the organization had engaged in data scraping that contravenes X’s terms of service.
X further asserted that the metrics cited in the CCDH’s research were misrepresented to support unverified claims about the platform.
The CCDH did not provide a comment outside of regular business hours regarding the matter.
Recently, X has also initiated lawsuits against four unnamed parties in Texas and Bright Data from Israel for similar data scraping violations.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
