Media Matters for America, a nonprofit watchdog group, has filed a lawsuit against X, Elon Musk's social media company, accusing it of "harassment" and Musk of a "globetrotting litigation campaign" against the organization. The lawsuit, filed in a San Francisco court, aims to stop X from initiating litigation in countries outside of the US and to halt its pending cases in Ireland and Singapore.

The lawsuit stems from Media Matters' reporting in 2023 that X had placed ads next to pro-Nazi content on its platform. In response, X filed three lawsuits against Media Matters in Texas, Ireland, and Singapore, accusing the nonprofit of threatening the company's relationships with advertisers. Media Matters alleges that X breached its own Terms of Service by filing these lawsuits outside of San Francisco, where X was headquartered at the time.

According to Media Matters, it has spent millions of dollars to defend itself in court and is seeking damages. The organization is also seeking a court order to stop X from pursuing its pending cases in Ireland and Singapore. Media Matters cites X's own policy, which stated that "all disputes related to these Terms or the Services will be brought solely in the federal or state courts located in San Francisco County, California, United States."

However, X changed its terms of service last year to send disputes to federal court in the Northern District of Texas, Reuters reports. Musk moved the company's offices from California to Texas last year after taking control of Twitter and rebranding it as X. A federal judge in Texas, who owned Tesla stock, denied a motion last year to toss out X's lawsuit against Media Matters there, saying X "properly pled its claims" in the correct venue.

In contrast, a federal judge in San Francisco dismissed a similar lawsuit X filed against the Center for Counting Digital Hate (CCDH), citing that the case was about "punishing the Defendants [CCDH] for their speech." Media Matters stands by its analysis, stating that X brought these suits as punishment for its truthful reporting that ads appeared next to white-supremacist content on the X platform.

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge. The lawsuit it filed against Media Matters in Texas claims the nonprofit "manipulated the algorithms governing the user experience on X to bypass safeguards and create images of X's largest advertisers' paid posts adjacent to racist, incendiary content."

The implications of this lawsuit are significant, as it highlights the ongoing battle between social media companies and watchdog groups that aim to hold them accountable for their actions. The case also raises questions about the limits of free speech and the role of social media platforms in regulating content.

As the lawsuit moves forward, it will be closely watched by the tech industry and beyond. The outcome could have far-reaching consequences for how social media companies are held accountable for their actions and how watchdog groups are able to operate in the digital landscape.