(Bloomberg) — Twitter Inc. asked a federal judge to throw out Donald Trump’s lawsuit over his ban from the platform for stoking the U.S. Capitol riot, arguing the company’s right to free speech is at stake — not the former president’s.
Twitter’s First Amendment rights “are at their apex” in the case because the editorial decisions Trump is challenging relate to matters of public concern, including threats to the peaceful transfer of power, Twitter and its chief executive officer, Jack Dorsey, said in a San Francisco federal court filing.
Trump “agreed to abide by Twitter’s rules, and yet proceeded to repeatedly violate those rules” before, during and after the deadly assault on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters, with tweets that “could encourage further violence,” the company said in its filing late Thursday.
Trump’s free-speech claim also ignores “that Twitter is a private actor that is not constrained by the federal constitution,” the company said. The government “cannot force the private operator of an online platform, such as Twitter, to disseminate speech with which the operator disagrees.”
Trump is fighting bans or suspensions from Twitter, Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, accusing the tech giants of trying to silence conservative views and violating his free-speech rights. He’s also pressing ahead with plans to launch a rival social-media platform as part of a new media company with “non-woke” entertainment and news.
John P. Coale, who is leading Trump’s lawsuits against the companies, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The lawyer has said he’s confident the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately rule in Trump’s favor.
Broad Immunity
The Biden administration has intervened in the case, saying in a Thursday court filing that a 1996 law gives internet companies broad legal immunity over their moderation of user-generated content. The law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, has become a target of conservatives who say it allows left-leaning tech companies to censor right-wing voices, and Trump claims it is unconstitutional.
Section 230 “does not regulate” Trump’s speech, the U.S. Justice Department said in its filing. “Instead, the statute establishes a content- and viewpoint-neutral rule prohibiting liability for certain conduct by providers of interactive computer services.”
The Justice Department said it intervened for the “limited purpose” of defending Section 230.
Twitter’s filing outlined Trump’s actions leading up to the ban, including posting tweets that repeatedly violated Twitter’s Civic Integrity Policy after the election by tweeting false information about the vote. Twitter initially labeled the tweets “misleading” and left them up in the days leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, but took a harder line and locked his account when he wouldn’t stop, it said.
Trump, who is weighing a 2024 run to return to the White House, continues to falsely claim that the election was stolen.
Blocking Twitter from making such decision “would upend bedrock principles of constitutional law,” the company said.
Oral arguments in the case are set for Feb. 23 before U.S. District Judge James Donato, an Obama appointee.
The case is Trump v. Twitter, 3:21-cv-08378, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Francisco).
(Updates with U.S. Justice Department filing)
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