X Corp, the company that owns Twitter and is now rebranded as X, is suing the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), an anti-hate organisation, over research that criticised the platform.

X Corp has accused CCDH of engaging in "unlawful acts" to gain improper access to its data. In response, CCDH accused X Corp owner Elon Musk of attempting to silence anyone who criticises him. CCDH is a not-for-profit organisation that conducts research and campaigns against online hate. Its reports have been widely cited in the media.

Elon Musk has previously stated that he is a "free-speech absolutist." The legal case was filed on Monday after a series of fiery exchanges between the parties' lawyers. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from CCDH and claims that the centre's critical reports have cost X Corp "at least tens of millions of dollars" in lost advertising revenues. The case also proposes to name CCDH's backers, whom it alleges may include "foreign governments with ties to legacy media companies." CCDH's research has been critical of X Corp, formerly known as Twitter, and has raised concerns about the platform's handling of hate speech and disinformation. The legal action alleges that CCDH unlawfully scraped data from X Corp and gained unauthorized access to its data through a software tool called Brandwatch. It also accuses CCDH of attempting to censor contrary viewpoints with which it disagreed on various topics. The case claims that as a result of CCDH reports, several companies paused spending on advertising on X Corp. Photo by AlvaroMolina, Wikimedia commons.