Trump’s Social-Media Lawsuits: Nonsense

Just because something is bad does not mean it should be illegal. And just because something should be illegal does not mean it is. Lawyers are supposed to know this. The lawsuits filed by Donald Trump against Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are complaints about things that are not against the law. These cases should be thrown out immediately, and most likely will be. Anybody who puts money or faith behind these suits is getting scammed.

Trump, with the aid of his America First Policy Institute, has filed civil class-action lawsuits in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (the federal court in Miami) against Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The suits claim that the companies have violated the First Amendment by banning or suspending Trump and others from their platforms. Somebody seems to have missed what the First Amendment says: “Congress shall make no law” restricting the freedom of speech. The First Amendment is now applied to all levels of government, but it does not apply to private companies, and no amount of creative lawyering will change that.

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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Just because something is bad does not mean it should be illegal. And just because something should be illegal does not mean it is. Lawyers are supposed to know this. The lawsuits filed by Donald Trump against Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are complaints about things that are not against the law. These cases should be thrown out immediately, and most likely will be. Anybody who puts money or faith behind these suits is getting scammed.

Trump, with the aid of his America First Policy Institute, has filed civil class-action lawsuits in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (the federal court in Miami) against Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The suits claim that the companies have violated the First Amendment by banning or suspending Trump and others from their platforms. Somebody seems to have missed what the First Amendment says: “Congress shall make no law” restricting the freedom of speech. The First Amendment is now applied to all levels of government, but it does not apply to private companies, and no amount of creative lawyering will change that.