California Republican Devin Nunes is suing Twitter and its users for $250 million in damages, claiming that the users defamed him, with Twitter’s acquiescence, for political considerations. Nunes cited a number of tweets that accused him of criminal activities, made crude jokes about him, claimed he was voted “Most Likely to Commit Treason” in high school, and posted a cartoon of him engaging in a sexual act with Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Twitter is protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, but Nunes is contending that Twitter is engaging in an effort to sabotage Republican interests. (The New York Times, March 19, 2019, by Daniel Victor)
Lawyer Tyler Grant, USA TODAY, March 19, 2019, thinks Nunes has little chance of winning his lawsuit since Twitter has no obligation to stop defamatory tweets and Nunes must prove actual malice to prove defamation, a difficult standard to attain. Grant thinks the lawsuit was filed to build momentum for regulating social media.