This is a new legal setback for the former American president Donald Trump, who accuses Twitter of censorship after the suspension of his account, wanted to condemn the company now owned by Elon Musk. But a California court ruled on Friday May 6 that his complaint is not admissible.
The reason? “Twitter is a private company, and ‘the First Amendment only applies to government-imposed speech restrictions’,” Californian judge James Donato said.
Donald Trump claims for his part that his ban on writing on the social network where he was followed by 89 million subscribers is a violation of the right to freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution.
However, in its rules, Twitter leaves itself the possibility “to act as it wishes for any account or content, whatever the reason, and even without reason”. And it is this possibility that has been recognized by the courts.
What if Elon Musk invited Donald Trump back on Twitter?
The ex-president was banned from Twitter, but also from Facebook and YouTube in 2021 after his supporters attacked the Capitol on January 6. He is accused by these platforms of having encouraged violence; the suspension of his accounts was justified by the risk of further incitement to violence.
For a few weeks, Donald Trump has announced his own social network, but “Truth Social” is far from meeting the success he hopes for. He does not plan, however, to return to Twitter even if Elon Musk invited him to do so.
The richest man in the world who recently bought the social network wants to make it a bastion of freedom of expression, with less moderation than currently.