AMSTERDAM A Dutch group on Wednesday filed a subpoena against social media company X Corp, formerly known as Twitter, in a preliminary step that could potentially lead to a class action lawsuit over alleged misuse of user data.

The Stichting Data Bescherming Nederland (SDBN) said it intends to seek damages for people whose data was allegedly wrongfully tracked and traded in the 2013-2021 period. It filed a subpoena at Rotterdam District Court summoning X to appear on Jan. 3.

X did not immediately provide a comment when contacted by Reuters.

For the case to proceed, judges have to determine whether X has a case to answer, whether there is an identifiable group of people affected, and if so whether SDBN represents them.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling. Editing by Jane Merriman)