Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has filed a lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), accusing the anti-hate speech group of causing “tens of millions of dollars” in lost advertising revenue. The legal action, lodged in a US district court in California, claims that CCDH’s research led advertisers to pause or cancel campaigns on the platform.
The lawsuit alleges that 16 unnamed advertisers stopped spending on X after reading CCDH reports. It states that at least eight companies paused advertising in June and July, while five more paused plans around November 2022, shortly after Musk’s acquisition of the company. Three additional companies did not reactivate campaigns due to CCDH’s work. The filing estimates the losses at “tens of millions of dollars,” with the amount expected to increase.
Advertising previously accounted for 90% of Twitter’s revenue in 2021, but Musk recently noted that ad revenue had halved since his takeover. CCDH, a US-UK group, has regularly published research on X’s content, including a study claiming that 99% of hate speech from Twitter Blue subscribers went unaddressed. The lawsuit accuses CCDH of unlawfully scraping data and obtaining unauthorised access to data from Brandwatch.
CCDH’s chief executive, Imran Ahmed, dismissed the lawsuit as an attempt to “bully us into silence.” He said Musk was trying to “shoot the messenger” rather than address toxic content on his platform. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for breach of contract, computer fraud, and interference with contractual relations.
