Elon’s SLAPP Suit Coordinates with House Republican’s SLAPP Inquiry
See here to interpret the IFS Anti-SLAPP report card.
We have previously posted about Elon Musk’ strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) directed towards the Center for Countering Digital Hate. To get an idea of how some in Congress and the media are coordinating with him, read the last paragraph of Congressman Jim Jordan’s letter at the bottom of this post.
Musk came to Twitter, now known as X but probably not after Malcom X, touting the virtues and need for free speech in social media but then quickly started canceling account holders who criticized him too much on X. He went furthest regarding CCDH by trying to SLAPP them it into silence. Other alleged free speech giants, in this case Representative Jim Jordan, are jumping in with their own attempt at backhanded SLAPPS. Here is the first paragraphs of JJ’s August 3rd letter to CCDH:
The Committee on the Judiciary is conducting oversight of how and to what extent the Executive Branch has coerced and colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor speech.1 Certain third parties, including organizations like yours, appear to have played a role in this censorship regime by advising the government and social media companies on so-called “misinformation” and other types of content—sometimes with direct or indirect support or approval from the federal government. Whether directly or indirectly, a government-approved or -facilitated censorship regime is a grave threat to the First Amendment and Americans’ civil liberties. Accordingly, as part of the Committee’s constitutional oversight obligations, we write to request relevant information and documents.
We are interested in understanding the interactions between the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and the federal government in particular, as well as between CCDH and social media companies. CCDH claims that “social media companies erode basic human rights and civil liberties by enabling the spread of online hate and disinformation.” According to its website, “CCDH holds [the social media companies] accountable and responsible for their business choices by . . . advocating change from platforms and governments to protect our communities.” The Biden White House relied on CCDH’s report titled “The Disinformation Dozen,” in its unconstitutional pressure campaign against social media platforms to censor those, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who CCDH maligned as “anti-vaxxers . . . responsible for almost two-thirds of anti-vaccine content circulating on social media platforms.”
The letter goes on to request a bunch of information and makes a document preservation demand. Its a SLAPP inquiry, designed to make CCDH shut up, I think. But look, I guess even RFK, Jr. deserves First Amendment protection even as his father and uncles roll in their graves. But if RFK, Jr. is your “little old lady” plaintiff I am not sure you are gonna win jury sympathy. Anyway, the CCDH is basking in the warm glow of the attention, I imagine. It certainly isn’t backing down. Here is what it said in response:
As stated in CCDH’s report on disinformation cited by the letter, CCDH is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization “that seeks to disrupt the architecture of online hate and misinformation.” Most fundamentally, as CCDH’s website explains, the organization “works to stop the spread of online hate and disinformation through innovative research, public campaigns and policy advocacy.” As an Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) charitable entity, CCDH takes seriously its obligations to remain nonpolitical and nonpartisan. To that end, CCDH has collaborated with governmental officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations.
For example, during the Trump administration, the Chief Executive of CCDH, Imran Ahmed, was invited by President Trump’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism to appear with other speakers, including then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo—along with other U.S. and foreign officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and British Conservative Party politician Michael Gove—in a virtual conference to combat the troubling rise of online antisemitism.
Similarly, CCDH seeks to communicate robustly and candidly with social media companies to identify how their algorithms and poor enforcement of their own community standards might cause harm. Indeed, Mr. Ahmed recently met with Linda Yaccarino, the Chief Executive Officer of X Corp., to discuss its “trust and safety” efforts in a meeting subject to Chatham House rules. In that meeting, held on June 29, 2023, Ms. Yaccarino also invited Mr. Ahmed to meet personally with her—a meeting that has not been scheduled. CCDH has engaged in similar discussions with other platforms over the last few years, including a recent meeting with officials from Meta. CCDH participates in such meetings without fear or favor because the organization neither receives any money from any social media company nor participates in any standing bodies organized by social media companies, for example, a “Trust and Safety Council” or similar groupings.
The most interesting part of CCDH’s response is the suggestion of coordination between Jordan, Musk, and right wing media:
Regarding contact with social media entities, we must also note that on August 3, 2023, the same day that the Committee sent its letter to CCDH, the Committee issued a press release republishing, in its entirety, an article from the Washington Examiner. That article (and the Committee’s identical press release)—which each provide a link to the Committee’s letter of the same day and quotes Chairman Jordan extensively—detail allegations made in a lawsuit filed against CCDH by X Corp., formerly Twitter. While the timing of the lawsuit and the Committee’s letter may simply be a coincidence, please be assured that CCDH will not be dissuaded from pursuing its vital mission by litigation, governmental inquiry, or public pressure.
darryll k. jones