{"id":140,"date":"2018-12-27T19:30:02","date_gmt":"2018-12-27T19:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/27\/elon-musk-argues-comments-on-twitter-are-protected-speech-in-request-to-dismiss-pedo-guy-lawsuit\/"},"modified":"2018-12-27T19:30:02","modified_gmt":"2018-12-27T19:30:02","slug":"elon-musk-argues-comments-on-twitter-are-protected-speech-in-request-to-dismiss-pedo-guy-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/27\/elon-musk-argues-comments-on-twitter-are-protected-speech-in-request-to-dismiss-pedo-guy-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk argues comments on Twitter are protected speech in request to dismiss pedo guy lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Elon Musk has filed a motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed against him by the British cave rescuer who sued the billionaire entrepreneur for calling him a pedophile.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s motion presents numerous reasons to dismiss the defamation lawsuit, all of which come back to a two main points: Twitter is \u201cinfamous for invective and hyperbole,\u201d and therefore should not be considered fact and these \u201cimaginative attacks,\u201d even if offensive, \u201c<\/span>are by their nature opinion and protected by the First Amendment.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s lawyers ask a single question in the request: \u201cAccepting Unsworth\u2019s well-pleaded allegations as true, would a reasonable reader believe that Musk\u2019s statements were supported by objective facts or were instead \u201cnonactionable opinion?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The list of arguments laid out in the motion to dismiss are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Unsworth must prove that the reasonable reader would believe Musk possessed private facts implicating Unsworth as a pedophile.<\/li>\n
  2. In context, Musk\u2019s statements cannot reasonably be read as asserting underlying knowledge that Unsworth was a pedophile<\/li>\n
  3. Statements on unmoderated Internet forums are presumptively opinion.<\/li>\n
  4. Musk\u2019s underlying argument is that \u201chis over-the-top insults are not statements of fact.\u201d<\/li>\n
  5. Musk disclosed the basis for his personal opinion: Thailand\u2019s documented problems with sex tourism<\/li>\n
  6. Musk\u2019s over-the-top insults are not statements of fact<\/li>\n
  7. Musk\u2019s colloquial statements are not reasonably interpreted as statements of facts<\/li>\n
  8. Musk\u2019s expressions of uncertainty show that his statements did not have a concrete factual foundation and were therefore opinion<\/li>\n
  9. Readers did not interpret Musk\u2019s statements as factual assertions<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Whether these arguments will be enough to convince a judge to dismiss the lawsuit is unclear. However, it raises a different question. If the argument is to be believed, it would suggest that other claims and promises Musk puts on Twitter shouldn\u2019t be trusted as fact either.<\/p>\n

    The whole \u201cpedo guy\u201d episode began<\/a> over the summer after Musk and employees at his companies, SpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Company, became involved in an effort\u00a0to extract 12 boys and their soccer\u00a0coach from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system located in Northern Thailand after flooding trapped the group for weeks. Musk\u2019s team developed and then sent\u00a0\u00a0mini submarine built out of rocket parts<\/a>\u00a0that he thought could help.<\/p>\n

    The team of divers who eventually rescued every person trapped in the cave didn\u2019t use the mini-submarine, dubbed by Musk\u2019s people as \u201cWild Boar.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Unsworth, a British ex-pat who lives in Thailand, helped plan the rescue operation and recruited other cave diving experts. The fight began after Unsworth\u00a0gave an interview on CNN International,<\/a> in which he called the mini submarine a \u201cPR stunt,\u201d that it \u201chad absolutely no chance of working\u201d and that Musk could \u201cstick his submarine where it hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Musk subsequently lashed out on Twitter and\u00a0insinuated that Unsworth was a pedophile. He later deleted the offending tweet and tried to backpedal \u2014 even\u00a0offering an apology<\/a>\u00a0of sorts on Twitter. And it could have all ended there. But then Musk dug it all up again during a debate with ex-TechCrunch journalist Drew Olanoff \u2014 once again on Twitter. Olanoff had brought up the\u00a0\u201cpedo guy\u201d attack<\/a>\u00a0as an example of Musk telling untruths.<\/p>\n

    Unsworth filed a lawsuit September in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against\u00a0Musk for defamation. The lawsuit alleges that between July 15 and August 30, Musk periodically used Twitter and emails to the media to publish false and\u00a0defamatory accusations against Unsworth, including accusations of pedophilia and child rape.<\/p>\n

    Read the entire motion here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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