Elon Musk’s X is moving its legal disputes to Northern Texas

In Brief

Lawsuits against X (formerly Twitter) will soon be heard in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

The shift was first announced last month as part of a broader set of changes to X’s terms of service and privacy policy. Now, with the changes set to take effect on November 15, The Washington Post spoke to a number of legal and tech experts about what the move might mean.

X owner Elon Musk also recently moved social media company’s headquarters from San Francisco to Bastrop, Texas (near Austin) — but Bastrop lies in Texas’ Western District.

The Northern District, meanwhile, has become a destination for conservative activists seeking to challenge Democratic policies, with 10 of its 11 active judges appointed by Republican presidents.

While it’s normal for companies to specify in their terms of service where lawsuits against them may be filed, Cornell law professor G.S. Hans described choosing the Northern District of Texas as “weird” — compared to the Northern District of California (which most tech companies choose as their legal venue), Hans said the the Texas district “just doesn’t have as much of a volume or history” with tech lawsuits.

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