Elon Musk's X is stepping into the legal fight over Alex Jones'
Infowars. Experts say it's unprecedented
Elon Musk's X is intervening in the bankruptcy sale of conspiracy
theorist Alex Jones' Infowars, in what is believed to be the first
time a social media platform has stepped in to a legal dispute over
account ownership.
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The sale includes Infowars' website, studio equipment, online dietary supplement store and social media accounts, which are followed by
millions of users.
In past legal disputes over account ownership, social media companies
have left it to the courts and parties involved to work it out. But in
this case, X is stepping in, objecting to Jones and Infowars' X
accounts being part of the sale
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...
In a filing this week with the Texas bankruptcy court, attorneys for X
said the company does not object to the overall sale of Infowars'
parent company, but "objects to any proposed sale or other purported
transfer of any account used by Jones or FSS that is maintained on the
X platform ("X")."
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That's because X says its terms of service make it clear that accounts
cannot be sold, and are ultimately owned by X. While that's not
unusual for a social media platform's terms of service, technology
companies usually enforce those terms quietly and do not step in to
public court battles, said Eric Goldman, an associate dean and
professor of tech law at Santa Clara University School of Law.
"Social media services approach this topic gingerly because they want
to encourage their users to invest heavily in their accounts," Goldman
said. "If users fear that the services can moot those investments by
taking back or exercising control over the handle, power users will be reluctant to make the desired investments."
Two things can be true at once, both experts said: Musk may be getting
involved because of his political leanings and to set a legal
precedent in a high-profile case involving well-known X accounts.
By intervening in the case, X is further showing how the platform is ultimately Musk's domain, where he can do as he pleases. Musk has
shown a willingness to take over accounts in the past, threatening NPR
after the public broadcaster stopped posting to its account and
seizing the @America handle for his political action committee that
supported President-elect Donald Trump during the campaign.
"What conceivable motivation does a company have for destroying the
value in their users' accounts, and implicitly threatening all other
users?" Butterfield said. "It becomes an individual person's
playground, rather than a functioning marketplace of ideas."
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/29/media/alex-jones-elon-musk-x-infowars-accounts/index.html
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