this post was submitted on 26 Nov 2024
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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.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 days ago (3 children)

I mean, if someone lets me into their house, points me to a whiteboard with a pen and tells me to write whatever I want so the other people in the house can read it...
Do I own the whiteboard? Or the pen? Or have control over any of it?

No. The owner of the house can lock me out and wipe off or change what I wrote at their leisure.

[–] Hawke 33 points 3 days ago (3 children)

You do have some control, in the form of copyright. Also the analogy doesn’t hold up well since you’re not using their “pen” and they only let you reach inside through the window. And the audience is outside the house.

[–] Blue_Morpho 14 points 3 days ago

And to continue that analogy- Twitter didn't assign the name, the user created it so they hold copyright on the name.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

A better analogy is i hand you a bullhorn and you shout at randos.

Do i own your words, even though it's my bullhorn? No.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Depends, actually.
If you lend it to me privately, no. If you hand it to me on a stage, kinda yes.

[–] x00z 3 points 3 days ago

No but somebody else can own the creator of what was written on the board. That might be a bit weird in today's terms if it's a person, but if it's a company that wrote that stuff it can legally become somebody else's, which is what is happening with Infowars.

Twitter has always allowed a company to own their own account, and even transfer it and be used by multiple people. For example how Biden's account is used by his staff. But now X starts meddling with this specific case, which is very questionable.

And if you're going to say that "it's his own account"; lawyers were saying that his "personal brand" is too heavily intertwined with Infowars and that it should be part of the Infowars brand.