Donald Trump is asking a federal judge to force Twitter to restart his account after he was permanently banned from the social media platform in the wake of the deadly Jan.6 insurrection at the Capitol.
Trump attorneys filed a request for a preliminary injunction against Twitter in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, arguing the company was “coerced” by members of Congress to ban his account.
“Coerced by members of the United States Congress, operating under an unconstitutional immunity granted by a permissive federal statute, and acting directly with federal officials, Defendant is censoring Plaintiff, a former President of the United States,” the filing states.
Trump’s lawyers argued that Twitter’s “censorship” of the former president violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Florida’s ‘Stop Social Media Censorship Act’ which was blocked by judge in July because it “expressly” violated Section 230, which allows for platforms to moderate content and says no state may make a law that is inconsistent with Section 230, according to Vox.
Twitter banned Trump in January citing a risk of incitement of violence days after a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying then President-elect Joe Biden victory.
In their filing on Friday Trump’s lawyers argued that 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.”
Trump is also banned from Facebook until at least 2023. He sued both Twitter and Facebook in July, alleging they unlawfully silence conservative viewpoints.
