Well, here’s something that sets a somewhat scary precedent for the future of social media. A while ago we reported that the satirical website The Onion was seeking bankruptcy for InfoWars.
Earlier this week, however, social media platform X objected to the buyout. X’s representatives said it objects to the InfoWars Twitter accounts being taken in the bankruptcy auction because X believes it has superior ownership over them.
We have yet to see the court and The Onion’s response, but this does highlight that you do not own your social media accounts, as noted by 404Media. Just as we have seen gamers come to the realization that they are only buying a license from most digital platforms, X only gives you the license to interact with the platform.
To a large extent, this means that while Musk is touting freedom of speech, it is only a certain type of speech that is allowed to remain free. Still, this is unlikely to ever really affect an individual user in the same way as a platform like InfoWars, but it is a worthy reminder to keep an eye on those terms and conditions.