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A California judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump against Twitter, the latest blow to the former president’s high-profile battles with major technology companies over their decisions to suspend his accounts as a result of the January 6, 2021 US Capitol attack.
The lawsuit, which Trump originally filed last year in Florida with lawsuits against Google and Facebook, was seen as part of a broader strategy to lure conservatives who have long argued that social media companies unfairly censor their views. The judge’s dismissal comes after Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced plans to buy Twitter by addressing content moderation decisions he sees as restricting free speech – and has sparked speculation that Trump may return to the platform.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge James Donato rejected Trump’s argument that Twitter acted as a “state actor” when it suspended his account in January 2021, calling it implausible. Trump claimed that Twitter was limited by the First Amendment restrictions on government restrictions on freedom of speech because it acted in collaboration with government officials.
The judge also rejected Trump’s call for a declaratory verdict that section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which says internet platforms are generally not responsible for what their users post, is unconstitutional.
In addition to Trump, several other plaintiffs were named in the lawsuit, who said Twitter had suspended their accounts after tweets about vaccines and the 2020 election. Those cases were also dropped.
Trump is suing Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for “censorship” of conservatives
Trump announced the fanfare trial during a July news conference at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Legal experts at the time predicted that the case would not be very successful in court, telling the Washington Post that the cases were based on arguments that had little legal merit.
Still, they proved to be powerful political points of conversation as Trump and his allies sought to raise money from people involved in their claim of censorship. The Trump team has set up a trial website that encouraged people to donate to the American Political Institute, a non-profit group set up by former Trump administration officials to refine its political agenda.
The dismissal comes as allegations that major technology companies censor conservatives continue to be central to Republican announcements ahead of the midterm elections. Yet research consistently finds that conservative media find a larger audience on Facebook than liberal ones.
Trump has said he will not rejoin Twitter, even if he is allowed to when Musk takes over. However, some of his own top advisers are not sure that he will be able to stay away from his favorite online megaphone. He owns his own social network, Truth Social, which his advisers say he plans to use, although the launch of Truth Social has been volatile and interest in the site has declined since it was first announced.
Trump has said he will not rejoin Twitter. Some advisers do not believe him.
Musk tweeted Friday that he had “no communication directly or indirectly” with Trump about his purchase on Twitter. He reiterated that Trump had publicly stated that he would stay at Truth Social.
Trump did not respond immediately to requests for comment. Twitter declined to comment.
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