Letters from the lawyers: Musk threatens CCDH with brazen attempt to silence honest criticism. — Center for Countering Digital Hate | CCDH

jocanib@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 472 points –
Letters from the lawyers: Musk threatens CCDH with brazen attempt to silence honest criticism. — Center for Countering Digital Hate | CCDH
counterhate.com

"Last week we got a letter from Elon Musk’s X. Corp threatening CCDH with legal action over our work, exposing the proliferation of hate and lies on Twitter since he became the owner. Elon Musk’s actions represent a brazen attempt to silence honest criticism and independent research in the desperate hope that he can stem the tide of negative stories and rebuild his relationship with advertisers."

[With apologies to anyone who dislikes endless Musk/Huffman spam in this community. I put it here because misusing the law to silence independent tech researchers this has wider implications.]

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But all the Musk bros told me he's a "free speech absolutist"

But all the Musk bros told me he’s a “free speech absolutist”

Can't you read? Lawyers for Musk are promoting free speech by threatening people with lawsuits. That's how free speech works. /s

"Absolutist," according to him, meant within the laws of whatever country it was operating in. So, 'free speech' North Korean style is something he favors.

3 more...

I recommend reading the letters. Both from X's lawyers and the amazing reply from the lawyers of the CCDH.

I read them in reverse order and indeed the answer is amazing.

As for the letter from Twitter lawyer (Spiro), it does look as it was written by someone without knowledge on the subject... I read Spiro Wikipedia page, and apparently, he is described as a quite successful lawyer, so my best guess is that some low level associate wrote it and Spiro only signed.

You weren't wrong. I decided not to read the drivel from X's lawyers as we all know what they're trying to do (stifle criticism), the response is strong as fuck though.

Thanks for the recommendation, it was a great read. Twitter's letter has all the energy of a 3rd grader writing a persuasive essay against something they know they have no argument for. CCDH however didn't miss.

Reminding Twitter that if they sue, they can and will immediately request information for discovery, including Musk's communications on the matter, is one hell of a threat to end the letter with. Even Elon must have a singular brain cell to know his emails would be incredibly damning.

I feel the dawning of something great. As if countless subjects suddenly looked upon the pestilent body of their Emperor and noticed that it is barren.

My surprise at this development maxed out at 0.

Nice. That response letter wasn’t exactly legalese, but was outstanding.

These truly and clearly are the actions of a lover of free speech.

Makes you wonder why they would limit API access, it's almost like they don't want anyone collecting statistical information about how much garbage there is on the platform…

I look forward to the day where Musk's do buys some consequences his bank balance can't pay for...

Well, I think we know now that even with the best lawyers money can buy, you can't pass off lipstick on a pig. That, or Musk's taste in lawyers is the same as his taste in design and business decisions.

Didn’t he refuse to pay Twitter lawyers that worked for Twitter to force Musk’s hand to buy Twitter? I imagine at this point his lawyer options are pretty slim based on his earned reputation.

Response letter=Legal terminology for “Come at me Bro!”

2nd page talks about “batons”…