In a surprising legal development, X (formerly Twitter) has claimed ownership over all user accounts on its platform through a court filing related to The Onion's recent purchase of InfoWars.
The filing, made public on Monday, emerged as X attempts to block The Onion's acquisition of InfoWars, the controversial media company founded by Alex Jones. InfoWars was sold at auction as part of a $1.4 billion legal judgment against Jones for defaming Sandy Hook victims' families.
According to the court document, X asserts that all social media accounts are "inherently part of X Corp.'s Services" and cannot be transferred without the company's explicit consent. While X acknowledges users own their content, the company claims sole ownership of the accounts themselves.
The timing of this legal maneuver has raised eyebrows, given Musk's evolving stance on Alex Jones. In late 2022, Musk firmly opposed Jones's return to the platform, citing sensitivity toward parents who lost children. However, Musk later reversed this position and reinstated Jones's account.
This latest move appears to contradict X's previous practices, as social media accounts are routinely transferred during company acquisitions. The filing also stands in stark contrast to Musk's past threats to reassign NPR's account handle in 2023.
The court filing states: "While X Corp. has granted account holders a license to use the Services, such license is non-assignable... and the Trustee cannot sell, assign, or otherwise transfer such license absent X Corp.'s consent."
The case continues to develop, with X not responding to requests for comment. The outcome could set a precedent for future ownership disputes over social media accounts during business transfers.