Trump Sues Facebook, Twitter and Google

Former President Donald Trump filed a class action lawsuit on Wednesday against Facebook, Twitter, Google and their respective CEOs, alleging the tech companies “censored” the former president by banning him after the January 6 Capitol riot. Trump claimed that social media companies’ use of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act meant they had “ceased to be private” and had become “the de-facto censorship arm of the U.S. government.” “We're demanding an end to the shadow-banning, a stop to the silencing and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing and canceling that you know so well,” the former president said. The lawsuit is supported by the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump nonprofit led by former Trump officials.

Coverage was mostly similar across the spectrum, with some right-rated outlets featuring the story more prominently on homepages. Coverage on all sides included statements questioning the lawsuit’s potential; CNN Business said that “courts have typically dismissed similar suits, and these are likely doomed from the start as well,” and Fox News quoted an expert who said, “This is a full misunderstanding of how the law works.”