Does it feel like your X account belongs to you and you can do whatever you want with it? That’s not true, according to a new court filing from the social media company formerly known as Twitter. It’s an argument that X is making in order to throw a wrench in The Onion’s recent purchase of InfoWars, the conspiracy theory media company run by Alex Jones. And it’s a great reminder that you don’t actually own what you think you own in the digital age.
The people behind the Onion recently won InfoWars in an auction, sold as part of a legal judgment against Jones who was found guilty of defaming the families of teachers and students who were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. The families won a $1.4 billion judgment against Jones and selling off InfoWars was part of the liquidation process for the conspiracy theorist’s assets in order to pay down that debt. But a company tied to Jones has challenged the validity of the Onion’s purchase. And X is trying to help stop the sale.
X’s legal filing on Monday, posted online by 404 Media, argues that all of the social media accounts in the auction can’t be transferred.
“Put simply, accounts are inherently part of X Corp.’s Services and their ‘use,’” the company said in Monday’s court filing. “A user must use X Corp.’s Services to create an account in the first instance, and to continue using the account going forward.”
X insists it wasn’t claiming ownership of the content in the accounts, and is only saying it controls the accounts themselves.
“While X Corp. takes no position as to the sale of any Content posted on the X Accounts, X Corp. is the sole owner of the Services being sold as part of the sale of the X Accounts,” the social media company wrote in its court filing. “While X Corp. has granted account holders, such as Jones and FSS, a license to use the Services, such license is non-assignable, both under the terms of the TOS and applicable non-bankruptcy law (i.e., as a personal services contract), and the Trustee cannot sell, assign, or otherwise transfer such license absent X Corp.’s consent.”
As 404 Media notes, it’s pretty standard for social media accounts to be transferred to new companies when a brand is sold. And Musk himself even threatened to reassign NPR’s X handle back in 2023 after the media outlet briefly stopped posting when the billionaire started labeling the broadcaster as state media. Oddly enough, X is essentially state media now that Musk has been named to an unofficial commission called DOGE that threatens to strip the federal budget of $2 trillion. Musk has, of course, donated millions to Donald Trump and helps boost far-right voices on the site in an effort to help the once and future president.
It’s not unexpected that Musk and his ilk would try to help a fellow far-right conspiracy theorist like Jones. But it would certainly be strange to explain this exact scenario to someone in late 2022 when Musk first bought Twitter. At the time, Musk was hesitant to allow Jones back on the social media platform after he had been banned years earlier. Musk specifically said at the time that he wouldn’t allow Jones back on Twitter because his first child died and suggested that Jones had caused too much pain to grieving parents after the Sandy Hook massacre.
“My firstborn child died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat. I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame,” Musk tweeted on Nov. 20, 2022, roughly a month after buying the platform.
My firstborn child died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat.
I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2022
Obviously, that changed and Musk allowed Jones back on the platform. And now he’s going so far as to throw a wrench in The Onion’s purchase of InfoWars, which was enabled with the blessing of the Sandy Hook families, who lost twenty children and six staff when a mass shooter entered the school over a decade ago. Musk, as the world’s richest person with $348 billion, has no actual principles beyond self-interest, making him a perfect fit for the MAGA agenda. And he’s going to utilize his power to keep guys like Jones from feeling any inconvenience in the name of helping Trump.
X didn’t respond to an email sent Tuesday afternoon. Gizmodo will update this post if we hear back.
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