Ex-U.S. President Donald Trump is now suing Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey for blocking him on Facebook and Twitter, respectively. After the Capitol siege on January 6, Trump was banned from both Facebook and Twitter.
The former President is now planning to sue the CEOs of both social media platforms for ‘censoring’ him. Axios first reported the story, and Trump is expected to hold a press conference to announce the lawsuit today.
Why Did Facebook and Twitter Ban Trump?
Facebook and Twitter banned Trump after a mob of his supporters vandalized Capitol Hill on January 6. You can read out full coverage of the events of that day here. The mob attacked the Capitol building right after Trump’s speech near the place.
Following this, both platforms decided to disable his accounts. While Twitter permanently removed Trump when he was still President, Facebook went ahead with a temporary suspension. Earlier in June, Facebook’s Oversight Board put a 2-year ban on Trump, and so the restoration of his account will be considered by Facebook in 2 years.
Trump’s suing Facebook and Twitter CEOs is backed by the America First Policy Institute. The institute’s Chair and CEO are Trump supporters, and it is among the largest pro-Trump groups in the U.S.
The case is significant as Trump and his supporters have criticized the bans as censorship. Trump is suing Zuckerberg and Dorsey with a class-action lawsuit. This will enable him to sue the social media platforms’ CEOs on behalf of the people that feel censored due to Facebook and Twitter’s policies.
After the ban, the former president started a blog where he was publishing statements and press releases. Within 6 months of the blog’s origin, its readership depleted and the blog was discontinued on June 2.
Aside from Facebook and Twitter, Twitch, Shopify, YouTube, and Snapchat also took action against the ex-prez’s accounts and the misinformation on them.
