A US judge on Monday dismissed Elon Musk's lawsuit against a non-profit group that criticized him for allowing hate speech to flourish on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
US District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said it was “clear” that Musk's company
“X Corp brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH posts that criticized X Corp — and perhaps to dissuade others who might want to engage in such criticism,” Breyer wrote.
“It is impossible to read the complaint and not conclude that Company
In a statement, X said it plans to appeal.
The decision is a blow to Musk The third richest person in the worldwho for many years styled himself as a champion of free speech.
But since paying $44 billion for Twitter in October 2022, it has faced widespread criticism for firing too many people who policed misinformation, and from civil rights groups for allowing more harmful and offensive posts.
Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said in a statement that Breyer's decision affirms his group's right to “hold social media companies accountable for the decisions they make behind closed doors.”
Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer for the nonprofit, said the decision shows that Musk “cannot bend the rule of law to his will.”
Musk and
Tesla, the electric car maker run by Musk, has separately faced several lawsuits alleging that it tolerates worker harassment. She denied those allegations.
X accused the Center of violating its 2019 user contract by collecting and cherry-picking data to create false and misleading reports that Musk had turned X into a haven for hate speech, extremism, and misinformation.
According to X's complaint filed last July, the nonprofit designed its “scare campaign” to drive away advertisers and caused tens of millions of dollars in damages.
X argued that the nonprofit was bound by Musk's policy changes, and could have left Twitter if it didn't like it.
Breyer agreed that X's desire to stop the criticism was “entirely reasonable from a business point of view.”
But he said the nonprofit could not have predicted when it partnered with Twitter that Musk would eventually take over and relax how it moderated user content.
Breyer also rejected X's claims against the European Climate Foundation, a non-profit organization based in The Hague, Netherlands that works to advance efforts to mitigate climate change.
X has accused her of conspiring with the Center for Countering Digital Hate to illegally collect data.
Nathaniel Bach, an attorney for ECF, said the nonprofit was grateful that Musk's “frivolous” lawsuit was dismissed.
Musk's rhetoric has often drawn complaints as well.
In November 2023, Musk endorsed an anti-Semitic post on X that said members of the Jewish community were stoking hatred against white people, saying the user was speaking the “actual truth.”
Musk has denied being anti-Semitic and has sought reparations, including a visit in January to the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz in southern Poland.
“Devoted student. Bacon advocate. Beer scholar. Troublemaker. Falls down a lot. Typical coffee enthusiast.”