X Corp. – formerly Twitter – has threatened to sue the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) that has published multiple reports, including one which alleges that the company failed to act on 99% of hate posted by the subscribers. It also questioned whether the platform’s algorithm boosts ‘toxic tweets’.
The Elon Musk-owned company sent a letter to the British research nonprofit organisation alleging that the CCDH made “inflammatory, outrageous, and false or misleading assertions about Twitter” and suggested it conspired “to drive advertisers off Twitter by smearing the company and its owner.”
The letter, which was sent by Twitter lawyer Alex Spiro on July 20, points out the specific study released on June 1. It said that the CCDH’s findings “are not supported by anything that could credibly be called research” and exists to drive away advertisers.
The company also highlighted that the nonprofit’s last month’s report which claimed that “Twitter Fails to Act on 99% of Twitter Blue Accounts Tweeting Hate” was purportedly based on “[n]ew research show[ing] that Twitter fails to act on 99% of hate posted by Twitter Blue subscribers, suggesting that the platform is allowing them to break its rules with impunity and is even algorithmically boosting their toxic tweets.”
“Review of the article reveals that this ‘research’ was limited to tasking CCDH staff to report 100 individual tweets as violations of Twitter’s rules, and then check whether those tweets had been removed or otherwise actioned four days later,” the letter pointed out.
X also noted that CCDH’s claims in this article are false, misleading, or both, and they are not supported by anything that could credibly be called research.
“The article provides no methodology for its selection or testing of tweets, no baseline for Twitter’s enforcement time frame, and no explanation as to why the 100 chosen tweets represent an appropriate sample of the nearly 500 million tweets sent per day from which to generalise about the platform’s content moderation practices,” it noted.
‘CCDH intends to harm Twitter’s business’
The letter also alleged that CCDH intends to drive advertisers away from the platform with incendiary claims.
Citing an example published earlier this month, the letter pointed out a quote by CCDH’s director of research, Callum Hood, as stating that “[Elon] Musk is not keeping his promises to advertisers, and their ads are appearing next to really harmful content.”
It said that “Twitter takes its commitment to free speech, the enforcement of its rules and policies protecting users, and its strong relationships with its advertising partners all extremely seriously.”
“…CCDH is passing off as impartial ‘research’ material that is in fact being funded in support of an ulterior agenda, your representations are all the more misleading,” the letter noted.
Here’s what CCDH has to say
Meanwhile, CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed said that “Elon Musk wants to silence his critics so he can continue to give a megaphone to hate and misinformation while avoiding the consequences.”
“Elon Musk’s legal threat has exposed his true nature. This action against CCDH proves he is no champion of free speech – but rather a petty tyrant who uses his wealth and power to try and intimidate his critics.” Ahmed said.
The centre also said it did “not accept any funding from tech companies, governments, or their affiliates.”
FacebookTwitterLinkedin
end of article