X Corp, also known as Twitter, is considering taking legal action against a prominent critic. The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) received a letter from X on July 20th, claiming that the anti-hate group made “false or misleading” statements about the social media giant, intending to intimidate advertisers. In a research article published in June, the Center accused X of allowing explicitly racist and homophobic posts despite their supposed policies against such content, even after being reported.
X responded by accusing CCDH of using flawed methodology and failing to analyze the 500 million daily posts on their platform. Additionally, X suggested that CCDH’s funding may come from competitors or foreign governments, insinuating an ulterior motive. CCDH denies these allegations, stating that their study was not intended to be comprehensive and highlighting their documented methodology. They challenge X to specify what inaccuracies they have identified and clarify that they do not accept funding from companies or governments.
Researchers argue that X is being hypocritical by attacking limited research while restricting the ability to conduct more comprehensive studies. X recently implemented reading rate limits to combat excessive data scraping, which they claim is being misused for AI training and manipulation campaigns. Even Blue subscribers are now limited to viewing 8,000 posts per day, making it impractical for extensive research.
X has disbanded its communication team and is currently unavailable for comment. CCDH asserts that it will not be intimidated and will continue publishing its research. They plan to release the original letter and believe that a lawsuit with baseless claims would be a risky move for X.
Recent reports indicate that X’s ad sales have dropped by 50% since it was acquired by Musk last year. Musk attributed this decline to deliberate efforts by European and North American marketers to bankrupt the company. However, employees have revealed that advertisers are hesitant due to the increase in hate speech and explicit content following Musk’s acquisition. Major brands like GM and Volkswagen have halted their ad spending on X, while others have significantly reduced their efforts.
X has been threatening legal action against various parties in recent weeks. They accused Microsoft of violating data use policies and threatened to sue Meta for allegedly copying important features with their Threads platform. X has also filed a lawsuit against a law firm for allegedly mishandling funds during the management transition to Musk.