A federal judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit by Elon Musk’s X that had targeted a watchdog group for its critical reports about hate speech on the social media platform.
In a blistering 52-page order, the judge blasted X’s case as plainly punitive rather than about protecting the platform’s security and legal rights.
“Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation,” wrote District Judge Charles Breyer, of the US District Court for the Northern District of California, in the order’s opening lines. “Other times, a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose.”
“This case represents the latter circumstance,” Breyer continued. “This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech.”
X’s lawsuit had accused the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) of violating the company’s terms of service when it studied, and then wrote about, hate speech on the platform following Musk’s takeover of Twitter in October 2022. X has blamed CCDH’s reports, which showcase the prevalence of hate speech on the platform, for amplifying brand safety concerns and driving advertisers away from the site.
In the suit, X claimed that it had suffered tens of millions of dollars in damages from CCDH’s publications. CCDH is an international non-profit with offices in the UK and US.
Because of its potential to destroy the watchdog group, the case has been widely viewed as a bellwether for research and accountability on X as Musk has welcomed back prominent white supremacists and others to the platform who had previously been suspended when the platform was still a publicly-traded company called Twitter.
The Charles Krug Winery is a winery founded by Charles Krug in 1861. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on November 8, 1974.
Historically, Charles Krug introduced innovative ideas in California winemaking. He began making wine using a cider press for pressing, carefully selected rootstocks, varietals and vineyard sites. The knowledge he gained and shared benefited the young California wine industry. Following Krug's death, James Moffitt Sr. purchased the winery in 1894. In 1943, Robert Mondavi persuaded his parents, Cesare and Rosa Mondavi, to purchase the inactive winery from Moffitt for $75,000.
The winery remains owned by the family of Peter Mondavi, Robert's brother.
Xander - when he sings, he sounds like Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day faking a British accent on American Idiot
Veronika - she loves metal, but her favorite subgenre is death metal. she’s also very well versed in the lore of Mayhem
Ace - if you ask him what he’s listening to he will name something hardcore, but he’s actually listening to a very pop-centric playlist comprised of exclusively female artists
Hu - besides listening to a lot of music with the zither, she also enjoys soft jazz and very old classical tunes because she thinks they’re relaxing. she can also play the piano.
Eden - she’s a huge swiftie. she’s not very open or direct about it, but she secretly follows a lot of Taylor Swift related pages and blogs, and is constantly listening to her music
Arturo - I think he definitely has a thing for women like Doja Cat and Nikki Minaj. you’d probably catch him simping in the comments of their instagram posts
Min - only listens to classical music because it’s proven to make you the most intellectually stimulated out of any genre. she also has a lot of a superiority complex regarding this.
J - she is a huge rock & metal fan, and really likes to listen to ‘cool’ stuff. her favorite bands are Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. she’s also tried to learn guitar and although she hasn’t stuck with it, she owns an electric guitar and can play simple songs.
Levi - listens to prime dad rock. a lot of this is early rock and roll, but surprisingly a lot of this also contains 90s alt and Weezer.
Rose - even if she’s not fixated on a task, she’s always looping one of those 2hr study lofi videos on YouTube, just for background noise. she just finds it very soothing and it helps her escape from reality.
Nico - they don’t listen to music much, but when they do, it’s at the lowest setting. They started to get into music a bit more after meeting Hu, and they really like soft instruments pieces
Charles - he genuinely does not listen to music and knows almost nothing about it. he doesn’t like sharing this so if anyone ever asks him about his music taste, he always says his favorite artist is Frank Sinatra to try and impress them
David - he actually likes jazz a lot and is not a bad singer at all. he doesn’t like to sing, but sometimes he will break out into song in the shower, wether it be jazz or a darker song. he also knows how to play piano.
Teruko - knows nothing about music, but she tries to blend in by listening to trending artists and trending audios online, regardless if she likes the song or not
Arei - she loves to do karaoke, but she’s completely delusional about being good. she’s absolutely terrible, but it’s fun for her to sing and it’s fun for her audience to watch her try and rock a Lady Gaga song
Whit - his entire taste is white trash 2000s pop music, and he will defend his taste with his life. he’s also watched Britney Spears’s music video for ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ a zillion times on YouTube and liked it on 64752567 alt accounts
sometimes i think about what would have happened if richard had died instead of henry and the rest of the book had been narrated the song of achilles style and it hurts