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Elon Musk ’s cause against the extremism inquiry organization the Center for Countering Digital Hate ( CCDH ) will have its Clarence Day in homage on Thursday .
Elon Musk ’s Xsued the CCDH last yr , accusingit of “ actively work to assert false and deceptive claim about X. ” The non-profit-making , form in 2018 , conducts inquiry on social media platforms to track hatred spoken language , extremism and misinformation . Its reports are regularly picked up by news organizations , TechCrunch included .
After Musk ’s takeover of Twitter , the CCDH published reports about rising hatred delivery on X andhow unbanned explanation , includingneo - Nazi Andrew Anglin , fend to make the company millions in ad taxation .
On Thursday , the CCDH will make a case for why X ’s lawsuit is frivolous and runs afoul of thestate ’s anti - SLAPP law , which was create to defeat litigation specify to intimidate or silence critics . X will defend the rigour of its lawsuit , which also accuses the CCDH of illicitly scraping datum and violating its terms of service through Brandwatch , a social media monitoring tool . The unwritten arguments will take place in San Francisco ’s U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and will belivestreamed .
recently last yr , the CCDH filed a motion to hit X ’s claims under California ’s police force against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation ( SLAPP ) and asked a judge to discount the case outright . CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed accused Musk , who is worth around $ 200 billion , of purposely draw out the legal process to run up the organization ’s sound notice .
“ Despite our continued progress , the Center for Countering Digital Hate ( CCDH ) and its backers have been actively working to assert false and shoddy claims about X and actively work to prevent public dialogue , ” X write on its own platform last year .
Musk , who is personally involved in the cause , has called the CCDH “ an evil propaganda machine ” and “ bronze grade psy ops ” in replies on X.
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Muskfiled a similar lawsuitagainst left - leaning metier guard dog Media Matters for America last year andthreatened anotheragainst the Anti - Defamation League over its reports of antisemitism on X. Unlike the CCDH lawsuit , X is suing Media Matters for America in Texas , which does n’t have California ’s anti - SLAPP protections .
Musk ’s financial resources are basically straight-out , but the CCDH does have an ace up its sleeve . The non-profit-making ’s legal squad include Roberta Kaplan , the famed attorney riding highafter her monolithic winagainst former president Donald Trump in the E. Jean Carroll denigration wooing .
The CCDH is n’t only focused on Twitter . The nonprofit on a regular basis publishes research detailing disturbing trends on all mainstream social platforms , include reports ofeating upset contenton TikTok , clime misinformationon YouTube andthreats of violenceagainst women on Instagram .
A loss in court for the CCDH would likely have an prompt scary effect on researcher who chase hate speech and misinformation on societal media . That soundbox of research has demonstrate essential for provide transparence into major social networks in recent years as tech companies downplay the negative social effects of their political program and scheme regulations that could dampen their advertising business .
“ This ridiculous lawsuit is a textbook model of a wealthy , unaccountable company weaponize the courts to silence researchers , simply for studying the spread of hatred speech , misinformation and extremism online , ” Ahmed sound out . “ CCDH is n’t just fighting this event for our own survival : we hump we are standing up for the freedom of all main researchers , academics , and journalists in the face of unprecedented efforts by the powerful to bully us . ”
Elon Musk just work an infamous neo - Nazi back to Twitter
X is result up antisemitic and Islamophobic hate , newfangled report shows