A federal judge in California on Monday dismissed X’s lawsuit against a nonprofit that studies online hate speech, ruling that the social media company’s case was intended to punish investigators who spoke freely about the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.
The Musk. X said the group’s research was hurting its business by scaring off advertisers, costing it millions of dollars.
But the court ruled that X’s lawsuit was an attempt to penalize the group for speaking negatively about the company and that its work was protected by law.
“Sometimes it is unclear what exactly is driving a dispute, and only by reading between the lines of a complaint can one attempt to provide the plaintiff’s true purpose,” wrote Judge Charles R . Breyer in a decision Monday. “Other times a complaint is so boldly and vehemently about one thing that there can be no doubt about that purpose. » He added: “This case aims to punish the defendants for their comments. »
The move is a blow to Mr Musk, who has used legal threats to combat criticism of his social media platform. In November, he sued the advocacy group Media Matters for America after it published a report showing ads about X appearing alongside neo-Nazi messages.
“We are creating costs for lies and hate,” said Imran Ahmed, executive director of the Center for Countering Digital Hate. “The courts today affirmed our fundamental right to investigate, speak out, defend and hold social media companies accountable for decisions they make behind closed doors that affect our children, our democracy and our human rights fundamentals and civil liberties. »
X said in a statement that he planned to appeal the decision and would continue to pursue legal action against the organization for “unlawfully obtaining platform data to create a misleading investigation.”
The case was one of several legal battles currently pitting Mr. Musk and . Former Twitter executives are also suing the company, claiming Mr. Musk wrongly withheld their gravity pay.
Additionally, Mr. Musk is suing OpenAI, the artificial intelligence lab he co-founded, claiming the company violated its principles. (The New York Times is also suing OpenAI and Microsoft for misuse of its copyrighted materials.)
