The Onion’s acquisition of InfoWars, recently auctioned off as part of the liquidation of its controversial owner, Alex Jones, in order to pay off his defamation victims, has no doubt caused a commotion among right-wingers.
It also seems to be causing a stir with Elon Musk, who is reportedly trying to do all he can to block access to the InfoWars account on X by its new owner, The Onion.
X trying to block transfer of platform’s InfoWars accounts to the Onion
— The Guardian
Musk claims, via his X social network, that he decides whether to give permission for the sale or transfer of X accounts.
According to him, he is not obliged to hand over the keys of the controversial and very popular InfoWars account to its new owner, the satirical site The Onion.
The social network has filed a “limited objection” to the sale of InfoWars in Texas. While Musk and his company do not object to the sale generally, X asserts that its users do not own their accounts and cannot sell or transfer them without its authorization.
According to the terms of use, X Corp. owns the X accounts and specifies that the company only grants its users a non-exclusive license to use them.
Recall that The Onion recently announced that it had acquired InfoWars, but that First United American Companies, an alleged losing bidder, as well as ex-owner Alex Jones, objected to the sale.
They claim that First United American Companies would have offered a higher sum than The Onion, and accuse the liquidator overseeing the auction of collusion with the Sandy Hook families and the satirical site.
Alex Jones’ business was put up for auction because of court rulings requiring him to pay $1.5 billion to the families and loved ones of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre, due to the false accusations he repeated for years, claiming that the shooting was a “hoax” and that the parents and victims were actors.
The deal to sell to The Onion is currently on hold pending a court hearing scheduled for next month.
