X Suing Research Company , For Conspiracy to Drive Off Advertisers .
On July 31, Elon Musk's X Corp, the recently renamed
Twitter, filed a lawsuit accusing researchers in
the United Kingdom of unlawfully accessing data.
NBC reports that the lawsuit also accuses the British
researchers of selectively picking posts to portray a rise in hate
speech on the platform in the wake of Musk's 2022 takeover.
The nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate
(CCDH) published the contested report in June. .
According to the group, Twitter failed
to act on 99% of hate posted by
100 different Twitter Blue accounts. .
The CCDH has also questioned
whether algorithms boost "toxic tweets"
on the popular social media platform. .
The organization also accused Twitter
of failing to act on anti-Jewish hate
speech and 97% of anti-Muslim posts.
According to X, the CCDH used
data that it didn't legally possess to , “falsely claim it had statistical support showing
the platform is overwhelmed with harmful content.” .
The lawsuit is seeking a jury trial, monetary damages and
for CCDH to be blocked from accessing data provided
by X to social media listening platform Brandwatch.
On July 20, X sent a letter to the CCDH
alleging that the group had conspired , “to drive advertisers off Twitter by
smearing the company and its owner.”.
In response, Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of the
CCDH, released a statement saying that Musk was , "showing he will stop at nothing to silence anyone
who criticizes him for his own decisions and actions.”