The Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) researches online hate and disinformation, and works to hold social media companies accountable for the erosion of human rights and civil liberties.

CCDH Organiser Imran Ahmed said his organisation is standing up to the tech billionaires whose social media platforms are full of hate and lies.  Unfortunately, that seemed to get Musk a little cross.

Ahmed said “It started with childish name-calling on Twitter two weeks ago, when Elon Musk called my organisation “evil” and me personally a “rat”. “

Then suddenly Musk was taking the organisation to court.

Ahmed said it was an aggressive and cynical intimidation campaign by Musk who was singling us out because its research has exposed his failings.

 “Our reporting has shown that, under his watch, the number of tweets containing slurs has risen by up to 202 per cent; that tweets linking LGBTQ+ people to “child grooming” have more than doubled; demonstrated that climate denial content and accounts are surging; and revealed Twitter’s failure to act on hate posted by Twitter Blue subscribers. Members of Twitter’s own trust and safety council have resigned, citing CCDH findings, and our research has been widely reported by news outlets around the world,” Ahmed said

Ahmed said there is a great irony in attempts by this self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” – to shut down honest debate and fair, research-backed criticism with legal threats.

“If we allow billionaires to bully their way out of accountability, the damage to our democracy will be devastating. My organisation is resolved to stand up against this Silicon Valley bully. We stand by our fact-based research, our demands for accountability, and our right to criticise the world’s richest person,” he added.