Judge allows X to keep defamation case against Media Matters in Texas

A U.S. judge on Tuesday said X, Elon Musk’s social network, can keep its case against Media Matters in Texas, turning down calls to move it to California.

Chief U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas said he “does not find good cause” to move the case out of Fort Worth. X brought the suit in 2023 after Media Matters published a piece saying ads from major brands appeared beside extremist posts on the site. X says the Washington, D.C. based nonprofit harmed the company with that report.

Media Matters stands by its work and denies wrongdoing

Media Matters asked to shift the case, arguing Texas was the wrong venue because neither party was located there when the complaint was filed and the alleged conduct had no Texas link. X, then based in San Francisco, moved its headquarters last year to Bastrop, Texas.

Around that time, the company also changed its terms of service to channel user disputes to the Northern District of Texas, a court where conservative litigants in political matters have often won.

Reuters reported O’Connor had earlier refused to send the lawsuit to California. In July, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals directed him to conduct a fuller review before ruling on venue. X told the court the transfer bid fit a “pattern of gamesmanship and delay” by Media Matters and urged the judge to keep the case in Texas. His latest order keeps the dispute in Fort Worth.

Media Matters hits back with lawsuit and fights FTC subpoena

The fight between the parties is also playing out elsewhere. In March, Media Matters filed its own suit against X in federal court in California, alleging the company is using baseless cases to run a “vendetta-driven campaign of libel tourism.”

In Washington, the group is contesting a U.S. Federal Trade Commission subpoena for its communications with other watchdogs that examine misinformation and hate speech in news and on social platforms. A judge quashed the subpoena, and the FTC has appealed.

On another front X was spared from the EU penalty for now according to a previous Cryptopolitan report.

In July, The European Commission paused one of its probes into whether the platform violated digital transparency obligations, and will miss the target it had set to finish the inquiry before its summer break. Three officials familiar with the file said a decision is now more likely after there is clarity from ongoing EU-U.S. trade talks.

EU tech officials stated last year that X breached the Digital Services Act’s content rules. Companies found to have violated the law can be fined up to 6% of worldwide turnover, and repeat offenses can lead to a suspension from operating in the EU.

An EU spokesperson said the proceedings remain active and told Reuters by email “The enforcement of our legislation is independent of the current ongoing negotiations.”

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