Donald Trump Art Facebook, YouTube And Twitter For Alleged Censorship

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BY SHANNON BOND

Former President Donald Trump has accused Google’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube about their suspension of his accounts after a crowd of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in January.

Trump has filed class action complaints in federal court in Florida, claiming the tech giants censored him and other conservatives of a long -standing right -wing complaint for which there was little evidence and the companies denied .

The court called for the court to “order an immediate end to the illegal, embarrassing censorship of American citizens’ social media companies,” Trump said at a conference at his golf club in Bedminster, NJ We demand an end to the shadow ban, a cessation of silencing and an end to the blacklisting, removal and cancellation that you already know. ”

The long -shot legal actions are the latest escalation of Trump’s long -running controversy over the social media platforms he used extensively before and during his presidency.

Former President Donald Trump has announced that he is chasing three of the largest tech companies in the country: Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube. Here, he walks on stage at a rally on July 3 in Sarasota, Fla. CREDIT: Jason Behnken / AP

After the Jan. 6 insurgency at the U.S. Capitol, companies kicked Trump off their platforms, citing the risk of further violence. Twitter permanently banned Trump, Facebook suspended him for two years and YouTube said it would only let him return “when we determine the risk of violence has been reduced.”

In Tuesday’s lawsuits, the former president accused companies of violating his First Amendment rights and behaving like “state artists” rather than private companies placing restrictions on what they can do. posted by people.

He asked the court to order the companies to return him and the other members of the proposed class of plaintiffs.

He also wants the court to declare a federal law, Section 230 of the Community Rights Act, unconstitutional. The 1996 law says online sites are largely not legally responsible for what their users post. While in office, in retaliation for Twitter’s verification of the veracity of his tweets, Trump signed an executive order attempting to remove Section 230’s protection of social media companies. (President Biden revoked the order.)

In addition to the companies, the lawsuits named Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai as defendants, though not YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki.

Spokesmen for Facebook and Twitter declined to comment. YouTube and Google did not respond to a request for comment.

Legal experts say Trump’s lawsuits are likely to be damned from the start because of the stringent protections both Section 230 and First Amendment give companies deciding what speech they allow.

“Trump has the First Amendment argument that is exactly wrong,” said Paul Barrett, an adjunct professor of law and deputy director at New York University’s Center for Business and Human Rights. He described the lawsuits as “DOA,” or dead coming, because the First Amendment applies to government restrictions on speech, not to the actions of private companies.

Even conservative experts have expressed skepticism about Trump’s legal case.

“These social media platforms are privately owned, not the government town square, and it is within their First Amendment rights to refuse to carry speech by third parties. This principle holds even to the former president of the United States and this is the constitutional right of every citizen, ”said Jessica Melugin at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “This lawsuit is a public exercise intended for political gain, not a serious legal argument.”

Previous attempts to sue the platforms over their content moderation decisions were quickly thrown out by the courts. Last week, a federal judge blocked a new Florida law from taking effect. It could fine big social media companies if they ban politicians. The court said the law likely violated the First Amendment.

Section 230 has come under greater scrutiny from both Republicans and Democrats in recent years, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle saying liability protections should be reinstated. However, they are divided on what the reform will look like, with Republicans focusing their criticisms on alleged censorship and Democrats seeking to hold companies accountable for misinformation and other dangerous content.

Editor’s note: Facebook and Google are among NPR’s financial supporters.

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