Judge rejects legal challenge against Trump’s Twitter ban

• U.S. District Judge James Donato rejected former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter.
• Donato said that Trump failed to prove that his Twitter ban violated his right to free speech.
• The judge added that as a private company, free speech rights don’t apply to Twitter.

Former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter has been rejected by a San Francisco court. According to U.S. District Judge James Donato, Trump failed to prove that his Twitter ban violated his First Amendment right to free speech.

According to Donato, Trump’s complaint was filled with allegations that some Democrats wanted Twitter to ban him and ‘the views he espoused’ because they contradicted the lawmakers’ opinions.

The judge explained on Friday that “the comments of a handful of elected officials are a far cry from a ‘rule of decision for which the State is responsible.’ Legislators are perfectly free to express opinions without being deemed the official voice of ‘the State.’”

Donato added that free speech rights don’t apply to private companies, and Trump failed to prove that Twitter worked as a state actor on behalf of Democrats.

Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube were sued by Trump in July 2021 on accusations of illegal censorship.

Trump was suspended from the platforms after his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the election results. The platforms cited concerns that he might incite further violence.

Trump’s lawsuit sought the reinstatement of his Twitter account, which had about 89 million followers. The suit sought class action status on behalf of others banned from the platform, as well as unspecified damages.

The suit also sought to declare Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act as unconstitutional. According to the act, providers such as Twitter cannot be held responsible for others’ posted content and can moderate by removing obscene posts that violate their standards.

Donato said that Trump showed only a “vague and speculative allegation” that Section 230 granted Twitter the immunity that allowed it to ban his account.

The lawsuit had been predicted to fail by legal experts who also thought that Trump might just milk it for political purposes. Following the lawsuit’s announcement last year, Trump’s political action committee immediately started raising funds.

The judge still gave Trump another opportunity to further amend his complaint.

Twitter is in the process of turning over its ownership to Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, for $44 billion. The deal has raised questions on whether Musk, who has described himself as a free speech absolutist, would reverse Trump’s suspension from the platform.

But Trump said last week that even if he were allowed back to Twitter, he wouldn’t rejoin anymore. After all, he has already started his own social network, Truth Social.

Source: Aol.com