The Elon Musk-owned Twitter parent company X Corp. has threatened to take legal action against the British nonprofit organization Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) in response to its research report titled “Twitter Fails To Act On 99% Of Twitter Blue Accounts Tweeting Hate.”
The report compiled research from 100 Twitter Blue accounts and examined how Twitter was responding to reports of online hate speech.
The letter sent by X Corp., which was published on the CCDH website, accused the nonprofit of “making inflammatory, outrageous, and false or misleading assertions about Twitter and its operations.” X Corp. further alleged that CCDH is funded by Twitter’s competitors and that their research is “calculated to harm Twitter generally, and its digital advertising business specifically.”
CCDH rejected X Corp.’s claims and accused it of attempting to “silence honest criticism and independent research.” CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed further stated that the research was aimed at halting the spread of “misinformation,” and that it has “forced change at once-reluctant social media platforms and led to anti-vaxxers removing their propaganda to avoid being banned.”
The nonprofit has previously had success in trying to prompt tech giants to remove ads from conservative websites such as The Federalist and Breitbart News. They have also prompted Twitter to give certain tweets a “vaccine safety label.”
Twitter did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s (DCNF) request for comment. They have since changed their format for automatic press emails to simply “we’ll get back to you soon.”
The pressure from X Corp. has sparked numerous debates across social media about the power of large tech companies and the future of online censorship. The case also raises questions of whether or not these facts need to be shared with the public. The situation also serves as a warning for other organizations and activists seeking justice versus big tech.
Overall, X Corp.’s letter raises a whole host of legal and ethical issues, namely whether or not research like this is fair game for a lawsuit or should be exempt as a matter of free speech. It’s clear that more conversations need to take place in order to fully understand the repercussions of this case and ensure that free speech is not censored in any meaningful way.
🚨@ElonMusk has claimed he is a free speech absolutist, but he is now using his attorneys to try to silence CCDH with bogus legal threats.
Billionaires can’t bully us or our attorney @kaplanrobbie. Here’s our response ⤵️#MuskMeltdownhttps://t.co/5tQBNRzXOj
— Center for Countering Digital Hate (@CCDHate) July 31, 2023
