In breaking news, a trial between Elon Musk’s X and the nonprofit watchdog group Media Matters has been scheduled for April 2025, as confirmed by a court filing. The US District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an order on Thursday setting the date for a high-profile showdown over Media Matters’ research exposing antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on a social media platform.
This legal battle began in November when X filed a lawsuit against Media Matters, accusing the group of misrepresenting the likelihood of users encountering hate speech on the platform. CNN reached out to X for comment on Thursday’s order, while Media Matters declined to provide a statement.
Media Matters President Angelo Carusone labeled X’s lawsuit as “frivolous” and an attempt to silence Musk’s critics. The lawsuit alleged that Media Matters’ testing methods were not representative of real user experiences on the platform and that the group’s reports distorted the chances of individuals seeing extremist material.
Motions for summary judgment in the case are due in December, with a decision by the judge on those filings potentially concluding the case before trial. Musk has faced setbacks in similar cases, as a federal judge in California previously dismissed a lawsuit brought by X against another watchdog group, the Center for Countering Digital Hate. The judge criticized that case as punitive rather than focused on protecting the platform’s security and legal rights.
District Judge Charles Breyer of the US District Court for the Northern District of California stated in a 52-page order, “Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation… This case represents the latter circumstance. This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech.” The legal battle between X and Media Matters is set to unfold in the coming months, with both parties gearing up for a contentious trial in April 2025.