Elon Musk threatens to sue research group that documented surge in hate speech on X
By David Klepper
Washington: X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has threatened to sue a group of independent researchers whose research documented an increase in hate speech on the site since Elon Musk purchased it last year.
A lawyer representing the social media site wrote to the Centre for Countering Digital Hate on July 20 threatening legal action over the nonprofit’s research into hate speech and content moderation. The letter alleged that the centre’s research publications seemed intended “to harm Twitter’s business by driving advertisers away from the platform with incendiary claims”.
Elon Musk has renamed Twitter X.Credit: Reuters
Musk is a self-professed free speech absolutist who has welcomed back white supremacists and election deniers to the platform, which he renamed X earlier this month. But the billionaire has at times proven sensitive about critical speech directed at him or his companies.
The centre is a nonprofit with offices in the US and United Kingdom. It regularly publishes reports on hate speech, extremism or harmful behaviour on social media platforms like X, TikTok or Facebook.
The organisation has published several reports critical of Musk’s leadership, detailing an increase in anti-LGBTQ hate speech as well as climate misinformation since his purchase. The letter from X’s lawyer cited a report from June that found the platform had failed to remove neo-Nazi and anti-LGBTQ content from verified users that violated the platform’s rules.
In the letter, lawyer Alex Spiro questioned the expertise of the researchers and accused the centre of trying to harm X’s reputation. The letter also suggested, without evidence, that the centre had received funds from some of X’s competitors, even though the centre has also published critical reports about TikTok, Facebook and other large platforms.
“CCDH intends to harm Twitter’s business by driving advertisers away from the platform with incendiary claims,” Spiro wrote, using the platform’s former name.
Imran Ahmed, the centre’s founder and chief executive, told the Associated Press on Monday that his group had never received a similar response from any tech company, despite a history of studying the relationship between social media, hate speech and extremism. He said that typically, the targets of the centre’s criticism have responded by defending their work or promising to address any problems that had been identified.
Ahmed said he worried X’s response to the centre’s work could have a chilling effect if it frightened other researchers away from studying the platform. He said he also worried that other industries could take note of the strategy.
“This is an unprecedented escalation by a social media company against independent researchers. Musk has just declared open war,” Ahmed said. “If Musk succeeds in silencing us, other researchers will be next in line.”
Workers install lighting on an “X” sign atop the downtown San Francisco building that housed what was formally known as Twitter.Credit: AP
Messages left with Spiro and X were not immediately returned on Monday.
It’s not the first time that Musk has fired back at critics. Last year, he suspended the accounts of several journalists who covered his takeover of Twitter. Another user was suspended for using publicly available flight data to track Musk’s private plane. Musk had initially pledged to keep the user on the platform, but later changed his mind, citing his personal safety. He also threatened to sue the user before allowing him back on the platform under restrictions.
He initially had promised that he would allow any speech on his platform that wasn’t illegal. “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means,” Musk wrote in a tweet last year.
X’s recent threat of a lawsuit prompted concern from US Rep. Adam Schiff, who said the billionaire was trying to use the threat of legal action to punish a nonprofit group trying to hold a powerful social media platform accountable.
“Instead of attacking them, he should be attacking the increasingly disturbing content on Twitter,” Schiff said in a statement.
AP
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.