Trump sues Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jack Dorsey of Twitter

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Former President Donald Trump, who has complained about censorship by social media giants, announced class-action lawsuits today against Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and Google’s Sundar Pichai.

Why it matters: It’s the latest escalation in Trump’s years-long battle with Twitter and Facebook over free speech and censorship. Trump is completely banned from Twitter and banned from Facebook for another two years.

Details: Trump announced at an 11 a.m. news conference on Wednesday that he is the lead representative in a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida.

Trump said the file is seeking an immediate injunction to allow his social media accounts to be immediately restored. He also said he is asking the court to impose “punitive damages” on the three social media giants. Trump’s legal effort is being supported by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a nonprofit focused on perpetuating Trump’s policies, through a new legal entity called the Constitutional Litigation Partnership, and was accompanied during the announcement by the African Union President, CEO and Chairman, who are responsible Ex-Trump, Linda McMahon and Brooke Rollins.

The class-action lawsuits will enable Trump to sue tech chiefs on behalf of a broader group of people he argues have been censored through biased policies.

Facebook and Twitter declined to comment, and so far, Trump and other conservative critics have provided no concrete evidence that either system is biased against conservatives in its policies or implementation.

The big picture: Data shows that Trump’s tweeters have been largely muzzled in light of the ban from Big Tech platforms, particularly Twitter and Facebook.

The president and his allies have repeatedly criticized the ban as censorship. The tech giants say they were put in place for safety reasons after the Capitol siege in January. Facebook’s independent oversight board confirmed Facebook’s decision to suspend Trump in May, even during his presidency, Trump tried to target both executives and tech companies. In 2020, he signed an executive order that was intended to limit the legal protections that shield social media companies from liability for the content users post on their platforms. President Biden rescinded that executive order in May.

Between the lines: Trump has often sued people over his career, but has rarely, in fact, followed him in terms of winning a ruling or even taking cases to trial.

What to watch: Lawsuits and actions targeting Big Tech platforms serve as ammunition for Trump’s conservative base. Republican candidates who succumbed in the ballot grabbed messages about censorship as part of their campaigns and messaging tactics.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to note that Facebook and Twitter declined to comment, and to clarify that Trump made the announcement at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

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