On Saturday, December 21, 2024, Reuters reported that a second federal judge in Texas has withdrawn from a lawsuit involving Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, and a group of advertisers accused of boycotting the service. U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade, based in Dallas, recused himself from the case without providing a reason, as stated in a public filing.
Following Kinkeade’s withdrawal, Judge Jane Boyle was randomly assigned to take over the case and a related lawsuit filed by the video-sharing platform Rumble. The lawsuit filed by X in August claims that the World Federation of Advertisers and several major companies conspired to boycott the platform, resulting in significant revenue losses.
Kinkeade and Boyle did not respond to inquiries regarding the recusal, and X has also not commented on the matter. The World Federation of Advertisers declined to provide a statement. The defendants in the case have yet to formally respond to X’s allegations that they worked together to halt advertising on the platform, which was formerly known as Twitter before Musk’s acquisition in 2022.
This lawsuit initially fell under the jurisdiction of U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas. O’Connor recused himself in August after it was reported that he held shares in Tesla, another company owned by Musk. Like Kinkeade, O’Connor did not disclose reasons for his withdrawal.
Judges in the U.S. are not mandated to reveal their reasons for recusal, although they occasionally do so. In response to ongoing legal matters, X updated its user terms in October to ensure that lawsuits against the company are directed solely to the Northern District of Texas or state courts in Tarrant County.
The Northern District has emerged as a preferred venue for conservative litigants. Notably, O’Connor, Kinkeade, and Boyle were all appointed by former President George W. Bush. Earlier this year, Musk relocated X’s headquarters from San Francisco to Bastrop, Texas, situated near Austin in the Western District of the state.
Source: Reuters
