A court filing states that a trial in Elon Musk’s X lawsuit against Media Matters, a nonprofit watchdog organization, is set for April 2025.
The US District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an order on Thursday that establishes the date of a high-profile confrontation on Media Matters’ investigation into pro-Nazi and antisemitic content on the social media network.
X filed a lawsuit against Media Matters in November, claiming that the organization intentionally misrepresented the possibility that users would come across hate speech on the platform. For his thoughts on Thursday’s directive, CNN has contacted X.
Media Matters opted not to respond. Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters, has previously referred to X’s lawsuit as “frivolous” and an effort to intimidate Musk’s detractors.
According to the lawsuit, the testing methodology employed by Media Matters was not indicative of the actual user experience on the website, and the reports produced by the group manipulated the likelihood of an individual coming across extremist content.
The case’s summary judgment motions are due in December, and the judge’s decision on those files may determine the case’s outcome before it goes to trial. Musk has encountered similar hurdles.
A federal judge in California censured X in March and dismissed a complaint the company had brought against the Center for Countering Digital Hate, another monitoring organization. The judge denounced the action in a scathing 52-page ruling, calling it clearly punitive rather than an attempt to defend the platform’s legal rights and security.
District Judge Charles Breyer of the US District Court for the Northern District of California began the order by stating, “Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation.”
“At other times, a complaint is made about something so loudly and openly that its intended purpose is obvious.” “This instance exemplifies the latter situation,” Breyer went on. “The purpose of this case is to penalize the defendants for their speech.”
