After threatening to do so, X Corp (aka Twitter) has filed a lawsuit against The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), Bloomberg has reported. It claimed that the anti-hate group is illegally “scraping” its servers and cherry picking hateful posts as part of “a scare campaign to drive away advertisers,” according to documents filed in San Francisco federal court. X Corp. is asking for unspecified monetary damages and an injunction barring the CCDH from accessing its data.
The Center published a research article in June asserting that X allowed explicitly racist and homophobic posts despite policies to the contrary, even after they’d been reported. However, X responded that the CCDH used poor methodology, and failed to study all 500 million posts on the service each day. It also maintained that the Center was taking funding from competitors or foreign governments as part of an “ulterior agenda,” according to The New York Times.
In a letter published earlier today, the CCDH countered the allegations. It noted that it never claimed to be conducting a comprehensive study, and documented the methodology it did use. It wrote that X didn’t provide any specific examples, and said it doesn’t accept funding from companies or governments.
“The public has the right to know if and how @ElonMusk’s leadership has led to more hate speech on Twitter,” the nonprofit tweeted earlier. “By threatening us, Musk is trying to hide the truth about his own failures. Platforms must be held accountable for spreading hate & lies.” Engadget has reached out to X for comment, but the company disbanded its communications team.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/elon-musks-x-corp-sues-anti-hate-group-over-its-research-060156126.html?src=rss