Your lawsuit against X is required to be filed in Texas, according to new terms of service
Lawsuits filed against X, formerly known as Twitter, have to be filed in federal court for the Northern District of Texas or in state court in the state’s Tarrant County, according to the social media company’s new terms of service. (Image from Shutterstock)
Lawsuits filed against X, formerly known as Twitter, have to be filed in federal court for the Northern District of Texas or in state court in the state’s Tarrant County, according to the social media company’s new terms of service.
X has moved its headquarters from San Francisco to Bastrop, Texas, Reuters reports. That’s within the federal court in the Western District of Texas, which “has far fewer Republican-appointed judges than the Northern District” of Texas, where federal suits must be filed, according to the wire service.
The Northern District of Texas is favored by conservative litigants challenging Biden administration policies, Reuters points out. The terms of service take effect Nov. 15.
The Northern District of Texas includes U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, whose financial reports for 2023 showed that he invested between $15,000 and $50,000 in the stock of Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla, report NPR and Law360. O’Connor is presiding in Musk’s defamation suit against the liberal group Media Matters for America, a nonprofit watchdog journalism organization, which alleged that X placed advertising next to neo-Nazi content.
O’Connor has issued “pro-Musk ruling after pro-Musk ruling” in the Media Matters for America suit, according to NPR. In one decision, O’Connor ordered Media Matters for America to turn over its donor lists, Law360 reported. That decision has been stayed pending appeal.
O’Connor is an appointee of former President George W. Bush.
Brian Fitzpatrick, a professor at the Vanderbilt Law School, told Ars Technica that terms of service requiring suits to be filed in specific courts are usually enforced.
“There might be an argument that there was no consent to the new terms, but if you have to click on something at some point acknowledging you read the new terms, consent will probably be found,” Fitzpatrick told the publication in an email.
