FORMER United States President Donald Trump has sued social media tech giants – Google, Twitter and Facebook – for censorship.
Trump said in the lawsuit filed in the US District Court in Miami that social media companies and their chief executive officers (CSOs) violated the right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
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In a news conference from his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump railed against social media companies and Democrats, who he accused of espousing misinformation.
“We are demanding an end to the shadow-banning, a stop to the silencing, and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing, and cancelling that you know so well,” he said.
He prayed the court to end alleged censorship, noting that if they could ban a president, “they can do it to anyone.”
Trump was suspended from his social accounts in January over public safety concerns in the wake of the Capitol riots, led by his supporters.
In June, Facebook announced that the suspension of Trump would last for two years, the maximum penalty under a newly revealed set of rules for suspending public figures, a move that was hailed by the independent Oversight Board which had upheld the earlier decision by the social network to ban Trump.
When the suspension is eventually lifted, there will be a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions that will be triggered if Trump commits further violations in future, up to and including permanent removal of his pages and accounts.
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