Photo: Carlos Barria / reuters
“It accused The Center for countering Digital Hate of engaging in fearmongering tactics to deter advertisers.”
After threatening to do so, Twitter, under the name X Corp, has filed a lawsuit against The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), according to a report by Bloomberg. Twitter alleges that the anti-hate group is engaging in illegal “scraping” of its servers and selectively choosing hateful posts as part of a campaign to scare away advertisers. The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco federal court, seeks unspecified monetary damages and an injunction to prevent CCDH from accessing Twitter’s data.
In June, the CCDH published a research article asserting that Twitter allowed explicitly racist and homophobic posts to remain on its platform, despite policies to the contrary and even after being reported. Twitter, however, responded by criticizing the CCDH’s methodology, claiming that it failed to study the entirety of the 500 million daily posts on the service. Twitter also accused the CCDH of having an “ulterior agenda,” possibly involving funding from competitors or foreign governments, as reported by The New York Times.
In a blog post titled “Protecting the public’s right to free expression,” Twitter/X explained its rationale for taking legal action against CCDH. The post stated that Twitter, as a free public service primarily funded by advertisers, believes that CCDH’s scare campaign and pressure on brands hinders public dialogue and restricts access to free expression.
Twitter/X further claimed that CCDH scraped its data without authorization from Brandwatch, a Twitter partner that provides consumer and market insights, as well as brand monitoring. Twitter/X also criticized CCDH’s “research,” cited in a Bloomberg article, for using metrics out of context to make unsubstantiated claims about Twitter/X.
The blog post concluded by stating that Twitter/X has filed a legal claim against CCDH and its supporters, accusing them of targeting individuals on various platforms who express views that differ from CCDH’s ideological agenda and attempting to coerce the deplatforming of these users.
In response to Twitter’s allegations, CCDH published a letter today countering the claims. The letter clarified that CCDH did not claim to conduct a comprehensive study and outlined the methodology it employed. CCDH also noted that Twitter/X did not provide specific examples to support its accusations and emphasized that it does not accept funding from companies or governments. CCDH declared its intention to continue publishing its research and warned that a lawsuit based on frivolous claims could carry risks.
The CCDH tweeted earlier, stating, “The public has the right to know if and how @ElonMusk’s leadership has led to more hate speech on Twitter. By threatening us, Musk is trying to hide the truth about his own failures. Platforms must be held accountable for spreading hate and lies.”