ACLU, EFF, Knight Institute Seek Leave to File Amicus Brief in Support of CCDH vs. X

The American Civil Liberties Union seeks leave to file an amicus brief in support of defendant Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) in its fight to defeat the X platform’s complaint alleging that the nonprofit is running a "scare campaign" to drive away X advertisers (see 2308010034). The ACLU filed a motion Friday (docket 3:23-cv-03836]) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University joined the motion. CCDH has consented to the filing of the proposed amicus brief, said the motion. X is expected to oppose the filing, it said. Its response is due Dec. 6. X attempts to disguise a “nonviable” defamation claim against CCDH as a breach of contract claim “to retaliate against a nonprofit that provided the public with information critical of X,” said the proposed amicus brief. The groups write to urge the court to grant CCDH’s Nov. 16 motion to dismiss (see 2311200040) and its motion to strike X’s first cause of action for breach of contract, it said. The dispute has implications “beyond the parties to this case,” it said. Allowing X to succeed will hurt CCDH’s ability “to continue research in the public interest,” it said. It will also create “significant dangers” for others seeking to use basic digital tools, like scraping, “to provide the public with insight into the powerful platforms that we all now rely upon for news and information.”