A lawsuit filed by X Corp., owned by Elon Musk, against the nonprofit organization Center for Countering Digital Hate has been dismissed by a federal judge. The nonprofit has been tracking the rise of hate speech on the site since it was purchased by the Tesla CEO.

X, formerly known as Twitter, had argued the center’s researchers violated the site’s terms of service by improperly compiling public tweets, and that its subsequent reports on the rise of hate speech cost X millions of dollars when advertisers fled.

Judge Charles Breyer of the U.S. District Court ruled on Monday to dismiss the lawsuit, stating that its sole purpose was to punish the nonprofit for expressing their views.

X claimed that the nonprofit had “scraped” data from its site, going against their terms of service. However, the court ruled that X did not provide evidence of financial losses resulting from the technological harm caused by the scraping.

X had requested millions of dollars in compensation, claiming that reports by the nonprofit resulted in advertisers leaving and a decline in advertising income.

The judge ruled in favor of CCDH, stating that X cannot request compensation for the actions of others, citing CCDH’s reports or speech.

The organization, which operates as a nonprofit in both the U.S. and United Kingdom, releases periodic reports on social media platforms such as X, TikTok, and Facebook that highlight instances of hate speech, extremism, and harmful conduct. They have published multiple reports that raise concerns about Musk’s leadership, citing an increase in anti-LGBTQ hate speech and dissemination of climate misinformation following his acquisition.

The social media platform, X, stated that it disagrees with the court’s ruling and intends to file an appeal.

According to Imran Ahmed, the individual behind the center and the acting CEO, the legal action is essentially a contradiction, as it is a harassment campaign initiated by a billionaire who claims to support freedom of speech, yet is attempting to silence those who oppose him by using his wealth. Ahmed believes that this lawsuit highlights the necessity for a federal regulation that would mandate technology companies to disclose greater details about their activities. Such transparency is crucial for the public to fully comprehend the impact of these influential platforms on our society.

Other groups have also noted an increase in offensive content on X since Musk’s acquisition in October of 2022. In November of the same year, major advertisers such as IBM, NBCUniversal, and Comcast announced that they were pulling their ads from X, following a report from the liberal advocacy organization Media Matters claiming that their ads were being shown alongside content that praised Nazis. This was another blow to X’s efforts to regain the trust and finances of well-known brands, which are a crucial source of income for the platform. In response, X has filed a lawsuit against Media Matters.