Trump Sues Twitter, Says Ban 'Violates the First Amendment'
Filing claims Twitter selectively enforced its policies
© press
Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against tech giant Twitter asking a federal judge to reinstate his account, which was removed earlier this year.
In the lawsuit filing, Trump argues that being banned from Twitter violates the First Amendment.
The 45th President's attorney also argued that Twitter "exercises a degree of power and control over political discourse in this country that is immeasurable, historically unprecedented, and profoundly dangerous to open democratic debate."
The filing accuses the tech giant of "censorship and prior restraint" of his speech "violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution."
The filing reads:
"Coerced by members of the United States Congress, operating under an unconstitutional immunity granted by a permissive federal statute, and acting directly with federal officials, Defendant is censoring Plaintiff, a former President of the United States."
© press
The filing quotes defense attorney and legal scholar Alan Dershowitz:
"[p] laintiff's right to speak freely has been seriously compromised by … Twitter. Moreover, the rights of his audience to have access to his views have also been curtailed."
It also claims Twitter selectively enforced its policies and highlighted the fact that members of the Taliban still have active accounts on the platform.
"Over the weeks that followed, Twitter allowed the Taliban to tweet regularly about their military conquests and victories across Afghanistan. The Taliban's Twitter account is active to this day," the filing states.
Lawyers say Trump's Twitter ban violates the Stop Social Media Censorship Act, which was signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in May.
The law states:
"All Floridians treated unfairly by Big Tech platforms will have the right to sue companies that violate this law — and win monetary damages."
© press
Moreover, social media companies are "prohibited from de-platforming Floridian political candidates" or face $250,000 per day fines.
The law was blocked, however, by .S. District Judge Robert Hinkle on June 30.
"The legislation now at issue was an effort to rein in social-media providers deemed too large and too liberal," Hinkle wrote in the 31-page order.
"Balancing the exchange of ideas among private speakers is not a legitimate government interest."
The DeSantis administration appealed the judge's decision.
Trump was banned a few days after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, where social media companies claimed Trump incited violence by challenging the 2020 election results.
"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them, we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence," the micro-blogging platform said.
Trump had over 88 million Twitter followers at the time of being banned.
Trump is also suspended from Facebook until 2023.
In July, Trump also filed a class-action lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter, and Google to "order an immediate halt to social media companies, illegal, shameful censorship of the American people" it will be the first of its kind in history.
The lawsuit, in conjunction with the America First Policy Institute, founded by the Trump Administration alumnae Brooke Rollins and Linda McMahon, will demand tech giants end shadow banning.
