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Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter banned former President Donald Trump in January.
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Social media sites are accused of targeting conservative voices.
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Republicans want to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
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Trump filed a class-action lawsuit against the major companies.
(NewsReady.com) – In the final weeks of former President Donald Trump’s first term, he was almost completely silent. Not because he wanted to be, but because all of the country’s major social media companies had banned him from their platforms. Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube all claimed the sitting president was spreading falsehoods and encouraging the people who protested at the Capitol Building on January 6.
The social media bans sent shockwaves around the world. Multiple foreign leaders spoke out against the big tech companies’ decisions to censor the American president. Trump and Republicans vowed revenge. They began working in earnest to rescind Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which gives tech companies an unprecedented amount of immunity from liability. Now the 45th president left office, he is ready to take action against the companies.
Trump Sues
On Wednesday, June 7, Trump filed class-action lawsuits against Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter in federal court. The former president accused the companies of violating his First Amendment rights. His lawsuits will allow other people to join if they also believe the companies have silenced them. Trump argues the companies are no longer private but are instead state actors who work with government officials to censor Americans.
Trump told Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt that the companies have “taken away free speech” and said the mainstream media isn’t doing its job. He believes the big tech companies are controlling the media narrative.
Currently, the First Amendment only prevents the government from censoring people. If the former president can prove the social media companies are working with the government to censor Americans, they could be classified as state actors. That would mean they would be banned from censoring people. Trump told Schmitt nobody has sued the companies like he has and he thinks “it will be very successful.”
In addition to asking the court to reclassify the companies, Trump also wants them to rescind Section 230 and pay an unspecified amount of damages.
If the former president is successful, he could stop the censorship that has been taking place. Americans would finally be able to speak out against things they don’t like without worrying about being silenced by some dudes who live in Silicon Valley.
Copyright 2021, NewsReady.com
