X Corp.

A federal judge dismissed X Corp.'s lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit whose reports documented rising hate speech on X and which X blamed for lost advertising. Judge Charles Breyer wrote that the suit was "unabashedly and vociferously about one thing": punishing the nonprofit for its speech.

Response: X said it "disagrees with the court's decision and plans to appeal".

• AP via News4Jax ↗

Sued the media watchdog Media Matters for America in federal court in Texas over its research showing ads from major brands next to antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on X, after Musk promised a "thermonuclear lawsuit". X entities later filed similar suits against the group in Ireland and Singapore.

Response: Media Matters called it "a frivolous lawsuit meant to bully X's critics into silence" and said it stands behind its reporting. X says the group built misleading images that did not reflect a typical user's experience.

• Engadget ↗
• Courthouse News Service ↗

The day before Turkey's presidential election, restricted access in Turkey to four accounts and 409 tweets identified by Turkish court order, including those of a Kurdish businessman critical of President Erdoğan and an investigative journalist.

“In response to legal process and to ensure Twitter remains available to the people of Turkey, we have taken action to restrict access to some content in Turkey today.”

Response: Musk said: "The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?"

• CBS News ↗

Labelled NPR's account "state-affiliated media", which its guidelines defined as outlets "where the state exercises control over editorial content", after removing NPR from a line of the policy that had exempted it as a state-financed organisation with editorial independence. NPR said government funding accounts for less than 1% of its annual operating budget. Musk replied "Seems accurate."

Response: NPR's CEO John Lansing called it "unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way".

• AP via KSAT ↗

Removed from its hateful conduct policy the rule, in place since 2018, that prohibited "targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals".

Response: Twitter did not immediately respond to AP's request for comment.

• AP via News4Jax ↗

Suspended the accounts of several journalists who cover Musk and the company, including Ryan Mac (New York Times), Donie O'Sullivan (CNN), Drew Harwell (Washington Post) and Micah Lee (The Intercept), after a sudden policy change against sharing real-time location information; the @ElonJet private-jet tracking account had been suspended the day before. On December 17, after a Twitter poll in which about 59% of voters chose immediate restoration, Musk reinstated several of the accounts.

Response: Musk wrote: "Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not".

• NPR via Vermont Public ↗
• AFP via Khaleej Times ↗