Judge rejects Media Matters request to dismiss Elon Musk lawsuit over ‘hateful content’ on X | EUROtoday

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A decide dominated Elon Musk’s lawsuit over “hateful content” on X/Twitter, which resulted in huge manufacturers pulling their adverts from the social media platform, can proceed to trial.

Musk’s X is suing the non-profit media watchdog Media Matters, accusing them of kicking off an promoting exodus after it revealed a “harmful” article alleging the platform allowed prime manufacturers show adverts beside antisemitic and pro-Nazi content material.

US District Judge Reed O’Connor dominated at a listening to on Thursday that X’s lawsuit in opposition to Media Matters and two workers members will proceed to trial on April 7 subsequent 12 months.

Brands who pulled their promoting on the time included Apple, IBM and Disney.

The Media Matters evaluation on the middle of the swimsuit alleges Musk, who not too long ago endorsed Donald Trump within the presidential election, has more and more begun a “descent into white nationalist and antisemitic conspiracy theories” since taking up the social media platform in 2022.

The lawsuit doesn’t dispute that some prime manufacturers’ advertisements had been featured close to the inflammatory content material, however argues Media Matters gamed X to provide extraordinarily unlikely pairings which might be normally screened out by the service’s promoting instruments, alleging that one dangerous match appeared for “only one viewer (out of more than 500 million) on all of X: Media Matters.”

Media Matters advised The Independent in an announcement on the time its evaluation of X and its content material insurance policies stays legitimate. “This is a frivolous lawsuit meant to bully X’s critics into silence,” its president Angelo Carusone stated. “Media Matters stands behind its reporting and looks forward to winning in court.”

Media Matters beforehand requested the decide pressured Musk to record Tesla as an occasion in X’s lawsuit, but it surely was dismissed by O’Connor stated “there is no evidence that shows Tesla has a direct financial interest in the outcome” of the case, in accordance with courtroom filings.

Musk referred to as the organisation “pure evil” when the swimsuit was first filed in November 2023.

O’Connor additionally not too long ago recused himself in one other lawsuit by X in opposition to a worldwide promoting affiliation and member corporations similar to Unilever, Marks and CVS Health. He didn’t present a motive for the recusal, however a monetary disclosure confirmed the decide invests in Unilever, Reuters reported.