Judge Angrily Dismisses Elon Musk’s ‘Vapid’ Lawsuit Against Hate Speech Researchers

On Monday, a federal judge dismissed Elon Musk‘s lawsuit against researchers who studied hate speech on the social media platform X owned by Musk.

Musk sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate for violating X’s terms of service for their research of hate speech on the platform, citing their gathering of data. Musk also claimed that the CCDH’s report repelled advertisers away from X over brand safety concerns.

Judge Charles Breyer, who dismissed Musk’s case, wrote a 52-page order explaining his reason. The order claims that Musk’s lawsuit was not brought out of security concern for X, but out of anger against the CCDH.

“Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation,” Breyer wrote. “Other times, a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose. This case represents the latter circumstance. This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech.”

During the first hearings of the case, Breyer expressed skepticism of X’s claims. Breyer said X did not make it clear whether or not the CCDH said anything defamatory about the platform. Musk also did not sue the CCDH for defamation. Breyer described Musk’s claims as “vapid.”

“It is impossible to read the complaint and not conclude that X Corp. is far more concerned about CCDH’s speech than it is its data collection methods,” he wrote.

According to the lawsuit, X blamed CCDH for losing tens of millions of dollars in damages brought on by the CCDH’s report. After Musk’s takeover of Twitter and its transformation into X, Musk has been criticized for allowing hate speech on the platform while also suspending the accounts of users who spoke out against him

In December, Musk drew backlash for allowing Alex Jones, a conservative conspiracy theorist, back onto the site after Jones called the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims crisis actors.

CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed commented on the lawsuit.

“We hope this landmark ruling will embolden public-interest researchers everywhere to continue, and even intensify, their vital work of holding social media companies accountable for the hate and disinformation they host and the harm they cause,” Ahmed said.

Musk also drew criticism for numerous layoffs of X employees after acquiring the platform. Last week, Musk terminated former CNN host Don Lemon‘s partnership with X after his interview with Musk angered the billionaire.