Former US President Donald Trump has asked a Florida court on Friday to mandate that Twitter restore his social media account.
In the court document, Trump asked a District Court judge for the Southern District of Florida for a preliminary injunction enabling his online return, while his lawsuit against the social media giant continues.
“Plaintiff Donald J Trump respectfully moves for a preliminary injunction directing, inter alia, Defendant Twitter, Inc and all persons acting in concert with Defendant, to reinstate Plaintiff’s access to Defendant’s social media platform(s),” the filing said.
It argued that Twitter was “censoring” Trump by indefinitely banning him from the platform, adding that the company “exercises a degree of power and control over political discourse in this country that is immeasurable, historically unprecedented, and profoundly dangerous to open democratic debate”.
The filing also argued that the social media giant had suspended Trump’s account after being “coerced” by his political rivals in Congress.
Twitter banned Trump from its platform on January 8, stating that two of his tweets violated their policies, and cited “the risk of further incitement of violence”.
The unprecedented move came after the riot on January 6 that saw hundreds of his supporters storm the Capitol, in an attack that resulted in five deaths, and some 140 police officers being injured.
Trump lawsuit against Twitter, other social media
Trump announced in July he is filing a lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter and Google, claiming that he is the victim of censorship.
“Today, in conjunction with the America First Policy Institute, I’m filing as the lead class representative, a major class-action lawsuit against the big tech giants including Facebook, Google and Twitter as well as their CEOs, Mark Zuckerberg Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey — three real nice guys,” Trump told reporters at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
The nation’s top tech firms have become the “enforcers of illegal, unconstitutional censorship,” added the 75-year-old former president.
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.
The suit requests a court order to end alleged censorship. Trump added if they could ban a president, “they can do it to anyone”.
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