Former President Donald Trump is suing social media companies alleging they violated his First Amendment rights. The suits want the court to order the companies to allow Trump to resume his use of their platforms and to declare Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act unconstitutional. While legal experts see little chance that the suit will succeed, it is expected that Trump will use it successfully to rally his core and raise money. (CNBC, July 7, 2021, by Kevin Breuninger and Christina Wilkie with contributions from Tom Franck)
The First Amendment limits government restrictions on the speech of private entities including tech companies, and Section 230 gives the tech companies immunity from lawsuits over their conduct of user-submitted content. (ars technica, July 7, 2021, by Jon Brodkin)
Trump said he would give depositions under oath so, if the lawsuits proceed, he would presumably be required to answer questions about his actions, lack of action and statements on January 6 during the assault on the Capitol. Trump’s conduct and continued lying about the legitimacy of the November 3 election resulted in his ban from the social media. (HuffPost, July 7, 2021, by S.V. Date)