Twitter sues pro-censorship nonprofit over targeting with ‘false’ allegations and data abuse

The Elon Musk-owned, Twitter parent company X Corp. followed through on its threat to sue the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) over its activity aimed at hurting the social media platform, X announced Monday evening.

CCDH is a British nonprofit organization that pushes for online censorship and has alleged in its research that Twitter has allowed objectionable speech to proliferate on the platform. CCDH illegally obtained X’s data to make it seem like the company is “overwhelmed by harmful content” and to demand companies cease advertising on X, the lawsuit alleges.

X stated CCDH’s assertions are “false and misleading claims” designed to stop public discourse and decrease Twitter’s revenue, according to its Monday blog post.

“Despite our continued progress, the Center for Countering Digital Hate … and its backers have been actively working to assert false and misleading claims encouraging advertisers to pause investment on the platform,” X wrote. “X is a free public service funded largely by advertisers. Through the CCDH’s scare campaign and its ongoing pressure on brands to prevent the public’s access to free expression, the CCDH is actively working to prevent public dialogue.”

CCDH published a June report titled “Twitter Fails To Act On 99% Of Twitter Blue Accounts Tweeting Hate,” in which it reported 100 tweets from Twitter Blue users and looked to see if the social media platform took action against them within four days, according to X’s letter threatening legal action on July 20. X asserted that “more than 99.99% of post impressions are healthy” on the platform, according to its blog post.

Free expression is fundamental to a healthy functioning global society – and if it’s taken away, it’s almost impossible to get back. That’s why we will continue to stand up for people’s rights, including the over half a billion of you who turn to our platform continually.

Free…

— X (@X) August 1, 2023

Social analytics platform Brandwatch informed X on July 20 that CCDH unlawfully obtained access to its data and used it inappropriately, according to the blog post. CCDH allegedly “scraped” the social media company’s data, which breaches X’s policies, and used X’s data “out of context to make unsubstantiated assertions about X (formerly Twitter).”

CCDH was founded in 2019 by Labour Party organizers and has pushed tech giants to stop advertising on conservative websites like The Federalist and Breitbart News, the Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported.

The nonprofit’s research “has forced change at once-reluctant social media platforms and led to anti-vaxxers removing their propaganda to avoid being banned,” CCDH claims on its website.

“We’ll get back to you soon,” Twitter responded to the DCNF’s request for comment. It is the platform’s updated automatic response to all press emails.

CCDH did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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