On Friday, Trump’s Twitter lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge in San Francisco federal district court. The lawsuit was filed by the former president of the United States of America, Donald Trump, in an attempt to lift his Twitter ban.
Trump’s Twitter Ban
Trump was banned from Twitter on January 8, 2021, after riots and violence by people who support him. Vijay Gadde had been a driving force behind Trump’s Twitter ban after violent Capitol riots, citing incitement.
Last year, the American Conservative Union and Trump filed a lawsuit against Twitter and its co-founder, Jack Dorsey. Several other individuals and Twitter users were also a part of this lawsuit and were also forced out of the social media giant’s platform.
Recently, after Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, a lot of people speculated that Trump might return to the platform. The reason being that Elon Musk has been very vocal about his disapproval of Trump’s Twitter ban.
The ruling in Trump’s Twitter lawsuit came after Donald’s recent interview on his return to Twitter. He told CNBC that even if Musk lifts the ban, he had no interest in rejoining the social media platform.
Trump’s Twitter Lawsuit
In Trump’s Twitter lawsuit, it was alleged that Twitter’s ban infringed upon the plaintiff’s First Amendment rights to free speech.
Before being banned by Twitter, Trump had been a regular Twitter user who tweeted at least 30 tweets a day. He also had a massive following of over 90 million Twitter users.
Trump’s Twitter lawsuit also claimed that his ban may have been a political move by the opposition, Democratic members of Congress.
Federal Judge Donato’s Ruling
James Donato, the federal district court judge, dismissed his claim regarding the violation of First Amendment rights to speech.
Citing federal case law, he stated that the First Amendment only applies within the outlines of government-related infringements. With Twitter being a private company, the ban does not come within the abridgement of his right to speech.
Donato also dismissed Trump’s Twitter lawsuit’s claim of government involvement. Donato rejected the lawsuit on the basis of a lack of standing in its alleged claim. At the time of the ban, it wasn’t plausible that Twitter was compelled by the government to take action to ban Trump’s Twitter account.
Other Claims by Trump
The San Francisco district judge also dismissed a third claim on Twitter for violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. This Act has the power to interfere in disputes between Twitter and its users as stated in its terms of service.
Previously, the lawsuit was filed in Florida, seeing as Trump was living there, but later it was moved to California. Twitter requested the court to move the case under California jurisdiction as its headquarters is in California.
There was a fourth claim by the plaintiffs made under Florida’s Stop Social Media Censorship Act which was also rejected. Only Dominick Latella, one of the plaintiffs can claim under the law. He was the only one whose account on Twitter was active at the time the law took effect.
The Stop Social Media Censorship Act took effect on July 1, 2021. Therefore, the judge expressed a major concern about its enforceability in Trump’s Twitter lawsuit.
The officials of the Florida government were urged to stop enforcing the Stop Social Media Censorship Act the day before. The Stop Social Media Censorship Act was found to be violating the First Amendment Act by the court.
The lawsuit filed also stated a request to declare the Communications Decency Act unconstitutional. According to the Communications Decency Act, no online social provider can be held liable for user-posted content. Donato dismissed the claims on the grounds of no legal standing.
Published by – Mohit Maurya
Edited by – Arya Rai
