I have bad news for those who thought the Donald Trump / Twitter saga would be over. In Florida, the former president filed suit seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the ban. He is working towards his account being permanently restored. Trump claims that the ban violates his First Amendment rights. He also cites Florida's recent social media law, signed earlier this year by Governor Ron DeSantis. However, courts have stopped the law being implemented on the ground that it is likely to violate free speech laws.
It makes several predictable arguments that Twitter "is a major avenue for public discourse" and that it has "exercised a degree of control and power over political discourse in the country that is immeasurable and historically unprecedented and deeply dangerous to open democratic discussion.
Trump's ban from Twitter, as well as many other social media platforms such Snap and Facebook, is a result of years of Trump flouting the rules. Trump's tweets caused a lot of controversy. He used them to bully political opponents, announce personnel changes, and also because he shared constant streams of misinformation, racist content, and encouraged violence.
After years of public outcry over the refusal to enforce their rules against the president's accounts Twitter and Facebook started to crack down on him. They labeled many of his tweets potentially misleading, especially in relation to COVID-19, and the election results. The attempted rebellion on January 6th, in which the former President encouraged his followers to storm Capitol to stop peaceful transfer of power, brought things to a halt.
Trump's latest lawsuit asserts that even the labeling his tweets "misleading", qualifies for censorship, even though they were clearly and deliberately false tweets.
New suit refers to a Florida law that prevents social media sites "knowingly" deplatforming politicians. There is a loophole Disney-sized. The law would have allowed Florida's Election Commission (the state's Election Commission) to fine social media companies $250,000 per day for taking down candidates for public office. Residents can also sue companies if they feel they have been treated unfairly, which is almost certain to be legally vague. It would also require social media companies to disclose how bans are made and to enforce their policies consistently.
A federal judge issued a preliminary order in July, noting that the law could have violated free speech rights for private companies who have their own terms and conditions of hosting content.
Florida's law is still in effect, but it's unlikely that it will ever take effect. It's also not clear how successful Trump will be with his strategy.
