Study found hate speech in tweets. So Musk tried to punish the researchers, judge says

A judge ends Elon Musk's lawsuit against a nonprofit group that called out hate speech on X. Meanwhile, white supremacist propaganda hit a record high last year, according to a new report. And prosecutors say a parenting blogger accused of horrific child abuse was driven by “religious extremism.”

It’s the week in extremism, from USA TODAY.

Musk loses lawsuit against nonprofit that called out hate speech on X

On Monday, a judge threw out a lawsuit brought by X Corp., the company owned by billionaire Elon Musk, against a small nonprofit that published reports about the continued spread of hate speech on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

• X Corp.’s lawsuit, filed in July, claimed the Center for Countering Digital Hate unlawfully accessed X’s data and cherry-picked results to try to show growing hate speech. It called the group’s Washington, D.C.- and London- based operations “activist organizations masquerading as research agencies.” 

• On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer sided against X, ruling in favor of a motion brought by CCDH to have the lawsuit thrown out of court. 

• “Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation, and only by reading between the lines of a complaint can one attempt to surmise a plaintiff’s true purpose … This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech,” Breyer wrote in a stinging 52-page ruling.

• An attorney representing X Corp. in the case did not respond to a request for comment. The @Xnews account posted on Monday that the company plans to appeal the ruling.

• “Throughout Elon Musk’s loud, hypocritical campaign of harassment, abuse, and lawfare designed to avoid taking responsibility for his own decisions, CCDH has remained quietly confident in the quality and integrity of our research and advocacy,” Imran Ahmed, CCDH’s CEO and founder said in a statement. “The courts today have affirmed our fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold accountable social media companies.”

Musk champions himself as a “free speech absolutist.” Since he bought X, the platform has banned prominent left-wing voices while Musk promotes voices on the far right. Earlier this month, X canceled a deal with Don Lemon after an at-times tense interview between the broadcaster and Musk the day before.

More: Elon Musk tweeted about a college student. Now the billionaire is facing a libel lawsuit

Report: White supremacist propaganda hits all-time high 

The amount of white supremacist propaganda around the country rose 12% from 2022 to 2023, according to an annual study released this week by the Anti-Defamation League. 

• ADL researchers counted a total of 7,567 incidents of white supremacist propaganda throughout 2023, including flyering, graffiti and hateful banners erected by white supremacist groups. That’s an average of more than 20 a day. 

• The highest levels of propaganda were in Virginia, Texas, California, New York, Massachusetts, Missouri, Tennessee, Michigan, Maryland and North Carolina.

• The increase was led by a 30% uptick in antisemitic propaganda and a 141% increase in anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda incidents, researchers said. They linked most of those incidents to a few white supremacist groups that include Patriot Front and the Goyim Defense League.

The ADL found that white supremacists are increasingly focusing their activity on anti-LGBTQ+ causes, with more than 20 percent of white supremacist events including some element of anti-LGBTQ+ hate.

Hate crimes: The data that shows why they're at record highs in U.S.

Blogger guilty of child abuse labeled religious extremist

Prosecutors in Washington County, Utah, said this week that the former video blogger Ruby Franke was influenced by religious extremism when she committed acts of child abuse against children she was looking after. The once-popular parenting influencer pleaded guilty in December to four felony counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse.  

• Franke, who once had millions of viewers of her parenting videos on YouTube, was arrested after one of the children in her care escaped and approached a neighbor asking for help. The boy was emaciated and showed signs of serious injury.

• Franke co-founded the parenting advice program "ConneXions," which has been labeled a cult. 

• "The investigation found that religious extremism motivated Ms. Franke and Ms. Hildebrandt to inflict this horrific abuse," a case summary from prosecutors reads. "The women appeared to fully believe that the abuse they inflicted was necessary to teach the children how to properly repent for imagined 'sins' and to cast the evil spirits out of their bodies."

Statistic of the week: 12

That’s how many Jewish organizations signed a letter sent this week to TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew requesting the social media platform submit to an audit of its safeguards against antisemitism.

The letter claims TikTok users have been inundated with antisemitic comments since the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas, and calls on the platform to allow independent experts to fully examine its approach to countering online hate. TikTok as a whole continues to draw controversy, with Congress considering a move to force an ownership change or ban of the platform. 

Will Carless is a national correspondent covering extremism and emerging issues. Contact him at wcarless@usatoday.com. Follow him on X @willcarless.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Musk lawsuit over hate-speech report failed