A Delaware computer repairman played a central role in the pre-election bombshell allegations against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and faced plenty of public backlash as a result.
When John Paul Mac Isaac attempted to sue Twitter for allegedly smearing him as a Russian hacker for his role in bringing the contents of an abandoned laptop to light, however, a judge swiftly dismissed the case.
Twitter limits access to story
Mac Isaac made headlines in the wake of a New York Post report in October that included emails he said came from the younger Biden’s computer.
He said at the time that Hunter Biden dropped off the laptop for repairs and never reclaimed it.
Although many voters reacted with disgust over allegations that Biden appeared to be involved in dubious international business deals, the story was largely downplayed by mainstream news outlets and social media sites.
Twitter went as far as to temporarily suspend the newspaper’s official account and prevent users from sharing the damning article.
With his own reputation and business cast into the public spotlight, Mac Isaac asserted that the social media network sought to defame his character. He has previously indicated that overwhelming harassment forced him to shut down his shop and move out of town.
“Widely viewed as disparaging”
As stated in the lawsuit filed earlier this week, he sought $500,000 in damages over Twitter’s decision to declare that the story contained “hacked materials,” arguing that it “had the specific intent to communicate to the world that Plaintiff is a hacker.”
Of course, Hunter Biden has since confirmed that he is under federal investigation for unspecified tax issues, but Mac Isaac contended that the damage to his reputation had already been done.
“The term ‘hacker’ is widely viewed as disparaging, particularly when said about someone who owns a computer repair business,” he claimed.
Based on a technicality and not the merits of the case, a federal judge immediately shot down his lawsuit. The ruling found that the case failed to “allege complete diversity” because the plaintiff lives in Delaware and Twitter is incorporated there, meaning that they cannot appear in federal court.
The case was dismissed without prejudice, so Mac Isaac could refile his defamation suit in another court. His chances of winning could be further diminished, however, because of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields social media companies from liability from content posted to their platforms.
The post Judge tosses computer repairman's suit against Twitter over Hunter Biden story first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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