In a significant legal defeat for X Corp., a judge granted a motion to dismiss the company's lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), an anti-extremism watchdog. The lawsuit was filed by X Corp., formerly known as Twitter, and accused CCDH of being responsible for an advertiser exodus from the platform. However, Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that the true purpose of the lawsuit was to punish CCDH for their speech.

The CCDH had moved to strike X Corp's claims under California's law on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP), which aims to prevent intimidatory suits meant to silence critics. Judge Breyer agreed with the motion and also dismissed the case entirely. He ruled that X Corp. would not be allowed to amend its filing to extend the case any further.

The lawsuit stemmed from CCDH's research, which revealed a significant increase in racist and hateful content on the platform following Elon Musk's takeover in 2022. The research drew the ire of Musk, the owner of X Corp., who claimed that CCDH's reports damaged the company's reputation and led to financial losses. However, Judge Breyer noted that X Corp. had chosen not to bring a defamation case, which would require proving the reports were untrue.

During a hearing on CCDH's motions in February, Judge Breyer expressed skepticism about X Corp.'s argument. He referred to the claim that CCDH had broken X Corp.'s rules by "scraping" information from the site and posing a threat to user safety as "vapid." In his decision, Breyer highlighted X Corp.'s motivation for the lawsuit, stating that it was brought to punish CCDH for its critical publications without specifically claiming defamation.

The decision marks a significant victory for CCDH and a blow to Musk, who has been vocal about being a champion of free speech. Despite the lawsuit, CCDH continued to share data related to X Corp.'s moderation struggles. In November, CCDH found that the company failed to remove 98 percent of posts violating its own rules during the Israel-Hamas conflict.

CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed expressed confidence in the quality and integrity of their research and advocacy, stating that it is now evident that federal transparency laws are needed to protect the public's right to know about influential platforms in public discourse and democracy. Ahmed also pointed out the irony in Musk's attempts to shut down criticism, stating that he inadvertently made a compelling case for statutory transparency rules.

As of press time, Musk has not commented on the dismissal of X Corp.'s lawsuit against CCDH. Previously, he referred to CCDH as an "evil propaganda machine" and accused the organization of wanting to undermine the First Amendment under the guise of doing good.