By Alexander Wilson-
Donald Trump is suing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter boss Jack Dorsey and Google’s Sundar Pichai after being banned from their platforms, and says the suit is to end cancel culture
Trump was suspended from his social accounts in January over public safety concerns in the wake of the Capitol riots, led by his supporters.
In a news conference from his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, Mr Trump railed against social media companies and Democrats, whom he accused of espousing misinformation.
“We are demanding an end to the shadow-banning, a stop to the silencing, and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing, and cancelling that you know so well,” he said.
The suit requests a court order to end alleged censorship. Mr Trump added if they could ban a president, “they can do it to anyone”.
None of the tech companies named have yet responded to the lawsuit, which was filed to a federal court in Florida.
Trump was suspended from his social accounts in January over public safety concerns in the wake of the Capitol riots, led by his supporters.
On Wednesday, Mr Trump called the lawsuit “a very beautiful development for our freedom of speech”.
In a news conference from his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, Mr Trump railed against social media companies and Democrats, who he accused of espousing misinformation.
“We are demanding an end to the shadow-banning, a stop to the silencing, and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing, and cancelling that you know so well,” he said.
The suit requests a court order to end alleged censorship. Mr Trump added if they could ban a president, “they can do it to anyone”.
None of the tech companies named have yet responded to the lawsuit, which was filed to a federal court in Florida.
Facebook and twitter have sometimes been responsible for unjustified censorship of users of its platform, denying posts on contentious grounds. The social media giant appears to have a case when it comes to Donald Trump, who often needed to be taught about boundaries when posting certain comments.
The former US president’s presence on social media was controversial throughout his time as president, but criticism came to a head with his baseless election fraud claims and the US Capitol riots. After months of warnings being added to his posts, Twitter banned him, citing ‘the risk of further incitement of violence’.
Facebook took similar action, with its Oversight Board ruling on a ban for at least two years.
Injunctive Relief
Trump is seeking ‘immediate injunctive relief to allow the prompt restoration his social media accounts’ in addition to imposing punitive damages on the three social media giants. His lawsuit is being supported by America First Policy Institute, a nonprofit launched for Trump’s policies, via the Constitutional Litigation Partnership.
Trump’s lawsuits will also allow him to sue on behalf of people who feel they’ve been affected by Facebook and Twitter’s censoring, like conservative commentators who constantly talk about how much they’re ‘silenced’, which in itself a complete contradiction.
‘They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this censoring and silencing, and ultimately, we will win. Our country can’t take this abuse anymore,’ he earlier said in response to Facebook’s decision.
‘What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our country. Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before,’ he wrote on a make-shift blog in lieu of a proper platform, which has since been shut down.