Judge Reject Trump’s Twitter Lawsuit

May 8, 2022 6:12 am

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A San Francisco judge tossed out former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit challenging his permanent ban from Twitter. U.S. District Judge James Donato said Friday that Trump failed to show Twitter violated his First Amendment right to free speech. Free speech rights don’t apply to private companies and Trump failed to show Twitter was working as a state actor on behalf of Democrats, the judge wrote. “The amended complaint merely offers a grab-bag of allegations to the effect that some Democratic members of Congress wanted Mr. Trump, and ‘the views he espoused,’ to be banned from Twitter because such ‘content and views’ were ‘contrary to those legislators’ preferred points of view,’” Donato wrote. “But 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.’” Trump sued Twitter, Facebook and Google’s YouTube in July 2021, claiming they illegally censored him.