The social media platform formerly known as Twitter sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate after the group published research documenting an increase in hate speech on the platform. Hate speech, and climate denial, have proliferated on the site since emerald mining scion Elon Musk bought the company last year. It is not the first time Musk has lashed out at those whose speech he does not like.
An attorney for the company appeared to admit toxicity on Twitter is integral to the companies business model, accusing CCDH of intending to “harm Twitter’s business by publishing research on anti-LGBTQ+ posts, Twitter’s reinstatement of banned accounts, and its failure to address toxic posts from “Twitter Blue” users.
“This should be the last time anyone dares to claim Musk is a ‘free speech absolutist’,” CCDH executive officer Imran Ahmed said in a statement. “He is in fact a bully who uses attack dogs to terrorize his opponents into silence.” (New York Times $, AP, Washington Post $, The Guardian, New Republic, Tech Crunch, HuffPost, The Verge, Variety, CNBC, The Hill, CNN, FT $, NBC, CNBC, Axios, BBC)