X Appealed Dismissal of Lawsuit Against Digital Hate Group
The company argued before a Ninth Circuit panel to revive its legal challenge against the Center for Countering Digital Hate.
Updated on Oct. 1, 2026 in Cybersecurity
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X requested that a Ninth Circuit panel reinstate a lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate after the case was dismissed in early 2024. The platform alleges the nonprofit breached its terms of service by scraping data to produce reports that deterred advertisers.
Why it matters
The case centers on whether researchers can be held liable for scraping platform data to investigate digital misinformation. X argues that the unauthorized access caused significant financial harm by driving away business partners.
X alleges the Center for Countering Digital Hate accessed protected platform data using unauthorized Brandwatch credentials. The nonprofit reportedly scraped public content to inform its research into platform moderation policies.
The players
X
This is a global social media platform formerly known as Twitter that is owned by Elon Musk.
Center for Countering Digital Hate
This nonprofit organization publishes reports on misinformation, hate speech, and platform moderation practices.
Charles Breyer
He is a U.S. Senior District Judge who presided over the original district court case in San Francisco.
Ninth Circuit
This is a federal appellate court that hears appeals from district courts within its jurisdiction, including those in California.
The details
The original lawsuit claimed that the nonprofit group used credentials provided by the European Climate Foundation to access X systems. A lower court previously dismissed the suit under a state anti-SLAPP statute, a move X is currently challenging.
Timeline
X originally filed the lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate in July 2023.
U.S. Senior District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed the case in March 2024.
X argued its appeal before a Ninth Circuit panel on September 30, 2026.
The Tech Race
This dispute reflects a broader struggle between social media giants and independent researchers over the scraping of digital data. The outcome may set a significant precedent for how anti-SLAPP laws restrict companies from silencing critical studies of platform moderation.
Users may see changes in how researchers access data on major platforms depending on the final court ruling. If the court upholds the anti-SLAPP dismissal, it could lower legal risks for individuals and groups monitoring online content and misinformation.
The takeaway
The appellate proceedings underscore the ongoing tension between data ownership and public-interest research in the digital age. Readers should note that judicial decisions in these cases often dictate the amount of visibility the public has into platform moderation practices.
Further reading
For more on platform data disputes, visit the Cybersecurity section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Court House News Service.
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