A California resident named Benjamin Brody has filed a defamation lawsuit against billionaire Elon Musk, alleging that Musk contributed to his harassment by amplifying false posts on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which wrongly implicated Brody in a confrontation involving far-right protestors. Brody, aged 22, has enlisted the legal representation of Mark Bankston, a Texas attorney known for winning a defamation case against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones last year on behalf of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting victims' families. Brody is pursuing a jury trial in Austin, Texas, and is seeking unspecified damages amounting to at least $1 million.
At the time of this report, Musk's legal representatives had not provided any comments in response to inquiries made through a spokesperson.
In June, a video posted on X depicted a confrontation among protestors near an Oregon Pride festival. Some individuals involved were reportedly wearing attire associated with the Proud Boys extremist group, as reported by The Oregonian. On X, certain users incorrectly identified one of the participants as Benjamin Brody. They highlighted Brody's post-graduation plans to work for the government and spread baseless claims suggesting the involvement of federal agents.
The lawsuit includes screenshots of interactions where Musk engaged with users who were sharing posts implicating Brody, including one instance where Musk characterized it as a "probable false flag situation." Brody, a recent college graduate who claimed he was in California when the incident took place, asserts that he faced harassment due to Musk's substantial reach, as detailed in the lawsuit.
As of the latest update, Musk's posts related to this matter remained accessible on X.
This is not the first instance of Musk facing defamation litigation. In 2019, he successfully defended himself against a lawsuit brought by a British cave explorer who alleged that Musk had defamed him by calling him a "paedo guy" on what was then Twitter.
Musk's technology company has also initiated legal action against other parties for content posted on the platform. In August, X filed a lawsuit against a group of researchers, accusing them of costing the company millions of dollars in advertising revenue by highlighting an increase in hate speech on the site.
Â
