Ripple chief executive officer David Schwartz has published a screenshot of an extract from the judge’s ruling in the case filed by Elon Musk’s X social media giant (formerly known as Twitter) against nonprofit organization CCDH (Center for Countering Digital Hate) in July last year.
X sued the company, accusing it of criticizing X for a rise in the amount of hate speech posts and thus driving advertisers away by implementing a “scare campaign.” X Corporation demanded “at least ten million dollars.” The judge pointed out that this fine would “torpedo the operations of the small non-profit,” thus also preventing others from criticizing X.
Schwartz criticized Musk, claiming that he has a “comically narrow understanding of the scope of freedom of speech” and calling the California federal judge’s ruling “shocking.”
Ripple CTO slams Elon Musk for his lawsuit
Schwartz has referred to Musk as a “self-proclaimed defender of free speech” as he attempted to get the court to punish CCDH for speaking against X and for posts allowed to be published on the platform. “Nobody could have predicted this,” Schwartz emphasized.
The top Ripple executive stressed that Musk’s lawsuit shows that his definition of free speech is pretty subjective, and he is trying to get the court to accept it and make a verdict on its basis. CCDH accused X of permitting hate speech to be published in great quantities. Judge Charles Breyer stated that this “case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech” as he dismissed the case.
Elon Musk's transformation of Twitter
Elon Musk acquired the Twitter micro-blogging giant in October 2022 for $44 billion after many months of making bids, facing decline and even a lawsuit filed by Twitter’s former management for Musk’s attempt to back out of the deal.
After the acquisition, Musk rebranded the platform from Twitter into X, aiming to turn it into an “everything app.” Under Musk’s ownership, X began to censor posts much less than before the purchase, especially in cases in which users disagreed with the government’s attitude toward enforcing policies during the pandemic. X also offers legal and financial support to users who have faced pressure or were dismissed from their jobs over their posts on X.