Summary
Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) has filed a court motion claiming ownership of all X accounts, arguing they cannot be transferred, in an effort to block The Onion’s purchase of InfoWars, Alex Jones’s conspiracy outlet.
The sale was part of a $1.4 billion judgment against Jones for defaming Sandy Hook families.
X’s filing asserts that users only hold a non-transferable license to their accounts, despite Musk’s prior actions threatening to reassign handles.
Critics view Musk’s move as aiding far-right figures like Jones and aligning with his MAGA agenda.
I just need someone to explain to me how this doesn’t mean he’s liable for anything posted on every account. If he has ownership of the account then the liability rest with him. So the meteoric rise of child pornography on Twitter would seem to indicate to me at least that Elon Musk is liable for child pornography. Not to mention hate speech and credible threats.
Rich people aren’t liable for their actions.
They don’t get arrested or charged, they get letters from the DoJ asking them to stop please.
I believe the argument being used is roughly analogous to lending something to someone.
If you borrow a lawnmower, it doesn’t get auctioned off when you go bankrupt. You get to use it however you like and if you commit a crime with it you’re responsible. It’s still ultimately owned by the person who leant it to you.
The same provisions that protect internet providers when subscribers use their service to break the law, probably. As long as they pretend to be a communications provider and self-regulate, they’re shielded from liability.
In this case, the account/handle could be argued to be equivalent to an IP address, which is something owned by the provider and not the user. If Felon Musk tried to claim copyright of user-submitted content as well as their accounts, that would be what opens up a large can of liability worms (by turning them into a publisher).
The problem with citing those Provisions is those companies have never claimed direct ownership of said accounts. This is an entirely new legal argument.
It’s pushing existing boundaries, but I wouldn’t call it an entirely new argument. Twitter’s lawyers could (and probably would) argue that a Twitter account is analogous to something that is already well-established as being both property of the service provider and insulated enough that it doesn’t make the service provider liable for content published through it.
My previous example of “Twitter account = IP address” is probably the easiest to explain through analogy.
An IP address is an addressable identifier. /
An account is an addressable identifier.Verizon owns their IP addresses. /
Twitter owns their accounts.Subscribers can communicate under one of Verizon’s IP addresses. /
Users can communicate under one of Twitter’s accounts.Verizon can not be held liable in civil court for actions performed with one of their IP addresses. /
… (this is the argument Twitter could make)A sane court would probably find that the second point isn’t comparable because an account uniquely identifies a specific entity whereas an IP address is shared, but we don’t exactly live in times where sanity is a given. Alternatively, they could argue that “Twitter handle = IP address” and “Twitter account = subscriber account”.
In any case, we won’t find out until when/if it makes it to court. Though, if it does, that might actually be one and only time I don’t side against the MPAA or RIAA.
Ok then. Close the account.
In 2022, 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.
I’m surprised people still have any respect for this hypocrite.
After the election, I’m so not surprised at all.
In fact, I haven’t been even a little surprised these people have fans since 2016.
Oligarchs only care about acquiring more and more wealth. Nothing else. Not you. Not their families. And they definitely don’t care about whatever they said 10 minutes ago.
You don’t acquire that much wealth by being a good person.
So he’s going to take his ball and go home…?
More like, he’s taking his ball, and you go home.
Sure, but that doesn’t mean he owns any trademarks that might appear within those account names, like, say, Infowars or some such. He can give the account to whoever he wants. But he can’t protect them from being sued for trademark infringement if they use it.
Yeah. This won’t hasten the exodus to Bluesky or anything
My tinfoil take: There’s something in the Twitter DM between him and Alex Jones that NEEDS to stay private.
Mean the one I deleted a while ago?
naw. the one you thought you deleted a while ago.
You mean the one Elon uses now?
But they have been transferred. They’ve taken accounts away from people.
Man.
He’s like if Dr. Evil and every bond villain were combined into one, then poorly written in a Sci-fi channel special as the wealthiest man in the world.
He doesn’t actually do anything but be rich and say stupid shit, and for some reason people keep going along with it
So if you threaten someone on Twitter it’s really Elon threatening them? Interesting.
The hero of free speech everyone.
Feels like a great time for a competitor to explicitly state that you in fact, do own your account on their site. Nuance to that as tech bros is always gonna be tech bros (and blue sky is also tech bros, just with temporary infective to say “nah man, it’s cool baby…” for the time being while they build market share). But basically stating that you have full ownership and responsibility to manage your account, and that management transfers along with any kind of power of attorney shift or through any other related court actions
does this mean whoever bought dril’s account has to give it back
Elon’s looking like he’s got a Michael Jackson style chin implant.
