Donald Trump loses bid to keep Twitter lawsuit in Florida

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The judge found that Trump’s status as president did not exclude him in Twitter’s terms of service.

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Former President Donald Trump’s legal effort to get his Twitter account back was faced with a setback Tuesday when a federal judge ruled his case should be moved from Florida to California.

Trump was banned from Twitter in January after a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building in a riot that killed several people, including a Capitol Police official. Twitter said the ban was “due to the risk of further incitement to violence.” In July, Trump sued the Twitter ban.

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Granted by Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. for Florida’s Southern District on Tuesday Twitter’s motion to move Trump’s lawsuit, rejecting the former president’s argument that he was exempt from Twitter’s terms of service because he was sitting president when his account was suspended and illegal that has been done. to accept a forum selection clause. That clause, which all users agree to use Twitter, refers to the Northern District Court of California as the venue for resolving legal disputes involving the platform.

“Even assuming Trump uses his account in his official capacity, Trump has not advanced any legal authority to support his contention that he meets the second requirement of exemption: that he is‘ legally unable to receive the controlling law, jurisdiction, or venue clause… ‘”Scola wrote in his decision (see below), agreeing with Twitter’s argument that the clause was mandatory.

Scola also found that Trump’s hopes in a lawsuit filed against him in 2017 for blocking Twitter users from following his account were “misplaced.” In that case, the Second Circuit believed Trump’s account was a public forum and the president violated the First Amendment by blocking users.

Scola ruled that the lawsuit against Trump “has nothing to do with the proceedings at hand because it does not take into account the enforcement of the Twitter forum selection clause, in particular, if Trump is exempted from its requirements in his capacity as president. “

Trump’s use of Twitter has redefined politics, letting him sideline the mainstream media to try to handle the political narrative. But Google-owned Twitter, Facebook and YouTube booted him from their platforms following the unrest on U.S. Capitol Hill in January.

The former president sued those platforms, alleging censorship and First Amendment violations, even though the First Amendment applies to the government, not to private companies like social media sites. Trump has long claimed without evidence that companies are discriminating against the right, a charge that companies have repeatedly denied.

As those lawsuits go through the courts, Trump announced last week that he would launch a new social network called Truth Social, whose goal is to push against Big Tech.

A legal representative for Trump released a statement late Tuesday that seemed to suggest the decision was “expected.” Twitter declined to comment on the decision.

Scola’s decision:

Trump vs. Twitter by jonathan_skillings at Scribd

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