4 ms·

What even is the legal case that he could be making?

by Hamuko 3y ago

misterbwong 3y ago
I mean, there's his Media Matters lawsuit for one: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/18/elon-musk-to-file-thermonuclear-lawsuit-as-advertisers-desert-x https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/18/elon-musk...
- dragontamer 3y ago
  It's not a lawsuit until he files it. It's just random words from the Twitter king for now. I think that it will be a difficult case and that the Lawyers will shy away from trying to go through with that insanity. Legal threats from a non-lawyer have very, very low risk. People only pay attention when an actual lawyer is involved.
  - JPKab 3y ago
    Here's the now filed lawsuit: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24172809-x-v-media-matters-complaint-filestamped-1 https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24172809-x-v-media-m...
- ecommerceguy 3y ago
  And he has a very strong case it seems.
  - aw1621107 3y ago
    On what grounds?
- frob 3y ago
  What lawsuit? All I see is a scared CEO flapping his lips about using the legal system to chill the free speech of a group he does not like for calling out his Naziesque rhetoric. It is now well past "The split second court opens on Monday," and yet, no lawsuit. It's almost like he doesn't actually have a case.
  - JPKab 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - asfbnionio 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - klyrs 3y ago
        > Twitter paid neo-Nazis to write racist propaganda. Hold on, I'm all about dumping on Musk and Twitter and now their unholy hate-spawn X (which I still call twitter for reasons beyond but not excluding spite)... but I'm gonna need to see a source for that one.
        asfbnionio 3y ago
        Sure! https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/pro-hitler-and-holocaust-denier-account-x-has-paid-me-3000-ad-revenue-sharing https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/pro-hitler-and-holocaus... This seems like merely ineptitude rather than malice, but it happened.
      - JPKab 3y ago
        [flagged]
        Sirizarry 3y ago
        [flagged]
    - dragontamer 3y ago
      So you are saying that Elon Musk publicly posted proof of Media Matters statements are real before filing a slander case? This is why legal threats from non-lawyers is lulzy. You make mistakes like destroying your own case before it is even filed. ------- Normally that factoid would be hidden until discovery. But hey, Elon went and posted the methodology and proof of it to the internet.
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  When you can provide a court and a docket number for that lawsuit, we can treat it a real thing that exists rather than empty threat that doesn't because it would have no merit and probably also subject Musk to penalties under the applicable anti-SLAPP laws.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - TheCleric 3y ago
    He filed it in Texas, possibly to avoid anti-SLAPP laws.
- sillywalk 3y ago
  It doesn't look like The "thermonuclear lawsuit" he was going to launch the "split second court opens", has happened. /S/ I am shocked, shocked I say. Musk usually seems so cool headed and not prone to constantly spewing hyperbole and bullshit.
  - JPKab 3y ago
    Lawsuit here https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24172809-x-v-media-matters-complaint-filestamped-1 https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24172809-x-v-media-m...
    - sillywalk 3y ago
      Well shut my mouth, I thought it was a bluff. Thanks for the link. ps. this isn't sarcasm.
asfbnionio 3y ago
There isn't one. Truth is a defense to defamation in the USA. Media Matters can call Musk an anti-Semite and say Twitter pays Nazis to write propaganda and there's nothing anyone can do to stop them, because both of those things are true.
- TheCleric 3y ago
  That is true, however Musk's suit is likely even more difficult to prove than that. It's not good enough that it be provably false (and the law puts a heavy emphasis on the word provably there). For a public figure suing anyone over claims like this, he would need to prove "actual malice" which typically means that not only was it provably false, but that the entity making the claim KNEW it was false, and decided to say it anyway. So Musk will likely have to prove that Media Matters article was a matter of fact (and not an opinion), prove that the fact they claimed was false, and prove that they knew it was false before publishing it. That's a VERY high bar.

What even is the legal case that he could be making?

by Hamuko 3y ago

What even is the legal case that he could be making?

I mean, there's his Media Matters lawsuit for one: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/18/elon-musk-to-file-thermonuclear-lawsuit-as-advertisers-desert-x https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/18/elon-musk...

dragontamer 3y ago
It's not a lawsuit until he files it. It's just random words from the Twitter king for now. I think that it will be a difficult case and that the Lawyers will shy away from trying to go through with that insanity. Legal threats from a non-lawyer have very, very low risk. People only pay attention when an actual lawyer is involved.
- JPKab 3y ago
  Here's the now filed lawsuit: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24172809-x-v-media-matters-complaint-filestamped-1 https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24172809-x-v-media-m...
ecommerceguy 3y ago
And he has a very strong case it seems.
- aw1621107 3y ago
  On what grounds?
frob 3y ago
What lawsuit? All I see is a scared CEO flapping his lips about using the legal system to chill the free speech of a group he does not like for calling out his Naziesque rhetoric. It is now well past "The split second court opens on Monday," and yet, no lawsuit. It's almost like he doesn't actually have a case.
- JPKab 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - asfbnionio 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - klyrs 3y ago
      > Twitter paid neo-Nazis to write racist propaganda. Hold on, I'm all about dumping on Musk and Twitter and now their unholy hate-spawn X (which I still call twitter for reasons beyond but not excluding spite)... but I'm gonna need to see a source for that one.
      - asfbnionio 3y ago
        Sure! https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/pro-hitler-and-holocaust-denier-account-x-has-paid-me-3000-ad-revenue-sharing https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/pro-hitler-and-holocaus... This seems like merely ineptitude rather than malice, but it happened.
    - JPKab 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - Sirizarry 3y ago
        [flagged]
  - dragontamer 3y ago
    So you are saying that Elon Musk publicly posted proof of Media Matters statements are real before filing a slander case? This is why legal threats from non-lawyers is lulzy. You make mistakes like destroying your own case before it is even filed. ------- Normally that factoid would be hidden until discovery. But hey, Elon went and posted the methodology and proof of it to the internet.
dragonwriter 3y ago
When you can provide a court and a docket number for that lawsuit, we can treat it a real thing that exists rather than empty threat that doesn't because it would have no merit and probably also subject Musk to penalties under the applicable anti-SLAPP laws.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- TheCleric 3y ago
  He filed it in Texas, possibly to avoid anti-SLAPP laws.
sillywalk 3y ago
It doesn't look like The "thermonuclear lawsuit" he was going to launch the "split second court opens", has happened. /S/ I am shocked, shocked I say. Musk usually seems so cool headed and not prone to constantly spewing hyperbole and bullshit.
- JPKab 3y ago
  Lawsuit here https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24172809-x-v-media-matters-complaint-filestamped-1 https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24172809-x-v-media-m...
  - sillywalk 3y ago
    Well shut my mouth, I thought it was a bluff. Thanks for the link. ps. this isn't sarcasm.

asfbnionio 3y ago

There isn't one. Truth is a defense to defamation in the USA. Media Matters can call Musk an anti-Semite and say Twitter pays Nazis to write propaganda and there's nothing anyone can do to stop them, because both of those things are true.

TheCleric 3y ago
That is true, however Musk's suit is likely even more difficult to prove than that. It's not good enough that it be provably false (and the law puts a heavy emphasis on the word provably there). For a public figure suing anyone over claims like this, he would need to prove "actual malice" which typically means that not only was it provably false, but that the entity making the claim KNEW it was false, and decided to say it anyway. So Musk will likely have to prove that Media Matters article was a matter of fact (and not an opinion), prove that the fact they claimed was false, and prove that they knew it was false before publishing it. That's a VERY high bar.