Trump asks judge for restoration of his Twitter account

Former President Donald Trump is looking to get his Twitter account back.

Fox Business reports that on Friday Trump asked a federal judge to force Twitter to restore his account. 

Trump, of course, was banned by Twitter and several other websites, including Facebook, following the January 6th riot that occurred at the U.S. Capitol. Big Tech has argued that it was necessary to ban Trump’s accounts in order to prevent further violence.

The latest

Trump’s request for the restoration of his Twitter account came in the form of a preliminary injunction. He is asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to grant it.

In the court filing, Trump’s attorney wrote, “[Twitter] 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.”

In the filing, Trump’s attorney went on to highlight examples of Twitter’s seeming double standards. Trump, for example, noted that Twitter has allowed the Taliban to tweet about its military victories across Afghanistan, while either censoring him or placing warning labels on his tweets.

Trump, himself, has not commented on the preliminary injunction request.

Background

This preliminary injunction appears to be part of the larger lawsuit the Trump has filed against Twitter, Facebook, and Google. In that lawsuit, which was filed in July, Trump alleged that the three internet giants violated his First Amendment right to free speech by banning him from their platforms.

Many have suggested that Trump doesn’t stand a chance here because the First Amendment doesn’t apply to private companies. But, Trump’s lawsuit, obviously, is more sophisticated than that.

Trump’s attornies actually allege that the Big Tech companies have essentially become an arm of the U.S. government, and as such ought to be subject to the same Constitutional standards as the U.S. government. Trump has a real leg to stand on here as the Biden White House itself has admitted that it, at times, has worked with Facebook and to cut down on so-called misinformation.

The preliminary injunction, if granted, would give Trump his Twitter account back at least until his case can be heard.

Trump’s chances of having the preliminary injunction granted are unclear as legal experts have yet to weigh in.

The post Trump asks judge for restoration of his Twitter account first appeared on Conservative Institute.