When Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, apparently, the tech CEO was not only buying the company but also the user accounts that are registered on the platform and are still active in the present. This was revealed after a recent filing from X claimed ownership of all the accounts on the social media platform as the company is looking to stop the sale of 'InfoWars' from Alex Jones.
The media company's sale is currently underway and one renowned publication company, The Onion, is looking to purchase it from Jones which is currently challenged by X and another company.
Elon Musk Says He Owns All X User Accounts in New Filing
A new court filing by X Corp. (via 404 Media) claimed that the social media company "owns" all of the accounts that are registered and active on the platform, especially as users agreed to their terms to use it. Despite users creating or managing their accounts, X is still, ultimately, the owner of these and has the final say regarding how they control the accounts online.
That being said, X claimed that it does not own the content that registered users are posting via the platform, but it still has massive control over it, reminding users that X and Elon Musk still have the final say.
It is also known that Musk and X previously flexed their ownership of these accounts back in 2023 when it was embroiled in a feud with NPR which stopped posting online because it was labeled as a 'state' media. Musk and X previously threatened to revoke their account and make it up for grabs after their mini-boycott.
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The Onion's Purchase of Alex Jones 'InfoWars'
The reason behind X's recent filing is to stop the sale of Alex Jones' "InfoWars," an infamous conspiracy theory media company, which was previously ordered to pay $1.4 billion to the families they defamed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The Onion is currently in the process of purchasing InfoWars, but Musk and another Jones' affiliated company are preventing this sale.
Elon Musk's Massive Stake in the Tech Industry
One of the most popular and recognized names in the tech industry is Elon Musk, best known for his companies likeTesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and previously, PayPal, which are among the top names in the industry at present. Musk is also known for his massive Twitter acquisition in 2022, but he became infamous for it because of the massive changes he effected, including a more recent controversy that sparked another mass exodus.
The tech CEO was known for privatizing Twitter when he bought it two years ago, and since then, the platform changed drastically which began with its significant focus on a subscription to its blue verification checkmark. Moreover, Musk is known for leveraging his ownership to focus on 'extreme' free speech, allowing banned accounts to return, and also using X to campaign for the now President-elect, Donald Trump.
Since 2022, Musk established that he is the owner of X, and despite not serving as its CEO after he was faced with backlash, he still remains at a high position where he can add or remove certain experiences online. In the recent filing by X, the world is yet again reminded that Musk not only owns the platform, but also their accounts, and using this argument to stop InfoWars' sale to The Onion.
