• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, September 20, 2024

The nonprofit research organization Center for Countering Digital Hate on Friday urged a federal appeals court to reject a bid by X Corp. to revive its lawsuit against the group.

The watchdog argues that a trial judge rightly dismissed X's claims on the grounds that they were barred by free-speech principles.

The dispute dates to last year, after the Center for Countering Digital hate issued a report accusing the platform of failing to remove racist, homophobic and antisemitic comments posted by Twitter Blue subscribers. That report cited several examples, such as the posts “Diversity is a codeword for White Genocide,” and “Trannies are pedophiles.”

X -- which has lost significant ad revenue since its 2002 acquisition by self-labeled “free speech absolutist” Elon Musk -- responded to that report with a lawsuit alleging that the nonprofit was scaring away advertisers.

The tech platform's complaint included a breach of contract claim based on allegations that the nonprofit violated Twitter's terms of service by “scraping” the data that informed the negative reports. The complaint also claimed that the organization violated an anti-hacking law.

In March, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer in the Northern District of California threw out X's complaint under California's anti-SLAPP (strategic litigation against public participation) law, which enables defendants to obtain rapid dismissals of claims based on statements about matters of public interest.

“This case is about punishing the defendants for their speech,” Breyer wrote.

X recently appealed that decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The company argues that its claims focused on “data security,” not speech.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate on Friday urged the appellate court to reject X's bid for numerous reasons. Among other arguments, the group said X's complaint was actually about the group's critical reports, regardless of the specific claims the company raised.

“Although X Corp. has tried to convince the public that it is taking the proliferation of hate speech and misinformation seriously, those efforts have failed,” the nonprofit writes.

“Having lost in the marketplace of ideas, X Corp. has resorted to suing its critics to try to silence them. This case is a prime example of that strategy.”

Last month, X Corp. sued the World Federation of Advertisers' Global Alliance for Responsible Media for allegedly triggering a “massive advertiser boycott” that cost the company billions in ad revenue.

The Global Alliance for Responsible Media discontinued operations soon after the suit was filed.