Elon Musk’s X intervenes in the bankruptcy sale of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars, in what appears to be the first time a social media platform has intervened in a legal dispute over account ownership.

Jones’ Free Speech Systems, Infowars’ parent company, was recently auctioned off to help pay part of the nearly $1.5 billion Jones owes the families of Sandy Hook massacre victims after being convicted guilty of defamation. The satirical news site The Onion was declared the winner of the auction, with the support of some families, in a seven-figure bid that Jones and his allies are challenge in court.

The sale includes the Infowars website, studio equipment, online dietary supplement store and social media accounts, which are followed by millions of users.

In the past, during legal disputes over account ownership, social media companies have left it up to the courts and the parties involved to resolve the issue. But in this case, X steps in, objecting to X’s Jones and Infowars accounts being part of the sale.

“Elon Musk is undoubtedly a hero” Jones said in a recent episode of his show Infowars, praising billionaire owner X for intervening in his case.

This stands out to experts in social media law.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a social media platform argue in court that no one can transfer ownership in a dispute over who owns an account because they’ll just deactivate it,” said Toby Butterfield, who teaches social media law. at Columbia University Law School.

In a filing this week in Texas bankruptcy court, lawyers for or other purported transfer of any account used by Jones or FSS that is maintained on the X Platform (“X”).

Indeed, X claims that its terms of service clearly state that the accounts cannot be sold and that they ultimately belong to of social media, technology companies generally enforce these conditions silently and do not intervene. battles in public courts, said Eric Goldman, associate dean and professor of technology law at Santa Clara University School of Law.

“Social media services are approaching this topic carefully because they want to encourage their users to invest heavily in their accounts,” Goldman said. “If users fear that services might undo these investments by taking back or exercising control over the handle, power users will be reluctant to make desired investments.”

Two things could be true at once, both experts said: Musk could get involved because of his political leanings and to set a legal precedent in a high-profile case involving well-known X accounts.

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