Home New X terms of service limit lawsuits to conservative Texas court

New X terms of service limit lawsuits to conservative Texas court

TLDR

  • X updated its terms to limit legal disputes to courts in Northern Texas or Tarrant County.
  • This move is seen as "judge shopping," as the district favors conservative rulings.
  • Two ongoing X lawsuits involve Judge Reed O'Connor, known for blocking Biden policies.

Elon Musk’s X has updated its terms of service to limit legal disputes to a court in Texas whose judge is well known for favoring conservative outcomes.

An update to X’s terms of service which comes into effect on November 15 seeks to restrict any disputes raised against the social media platform to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas or state courts in Tarrant County, Texas.

It’s not uncommon for companies to specify venues for legal action against them. However, these clauses usually specify the location in which the company is based. X is headquartered in Bastrop, which is in the Western Texas Federal Court District. Democrats have dubbed this practice of filing suits in Districts with sympathetic officials “judge shopping”, reported Reuters.

There are currently two X lawsuits happening in the Northern Texas District. Both of these were due to be heard by Conservative U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor. O’Connor is a judge in Fort Worth who has blocked several Biden administration policies, including gun control and LGBTQ+ rights policies.

X’s ongoing lawsuits

Late last year X filed a lawsuit against Media Matters, a non-profit dedicated to combatting online misinformation, after the charity published a report that showed paid advertisements were appearing near pro-Nazi content.

The report, paired with Musk’s alleged antisemitic remarks, caused a huge loss in advertising revenue for the site as advertisers pulled their ads. It was estimated to be as much as a $75 million revenue loss.

The trial for the case is set to go ahead in Fort Worth next year with Judge O’Connor presiding.

Additionally, in August, X filed an anti-trust lawsuit against multiple defendants, alleging that they (along with other non-defendant co-conspirators) conspired illegally to deprive the platform of billions of dollars of advertising revenue.

Judge O’Connor was set to hear this case also, but recused himself after it was revealed by NPR that O’Connor had owned shares in Musk-owned Tesla.

ReadWrite has approached X for comment.

Featured image credit: generated by Midjourney

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Ali Rees
Tech journalist

Ali Rees is a freelance writer based in the UK. They have worked as a data and analytics consultant, a software tester, and a digital marketing and SEO specialist. They have been a keen gamer and tech enthusiast since their childhood in are currently the Gaming and Tech editor at Brig Newspaper. They also have a Substack where they review short video games. During the pandemic, Ali turned their hand to live streaming and is a fan of Twitch. When not writing, Ali enjoys playing video and board games, live music, and reading. They have two cats and both of…

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