Trump Asks Federal Judge to Force YouTube to Reinstate Him to Platform
Former President Donald Trump asked a Florida judge on Monday to issue a preliminary injunction against YouTube to reinstate his account.
“What they do is say, ‘Hey, look, we have this free and open community you should join where you can share political thought, updates on family, or even have the ability to make a living,’” Katie Sullivan, executive director of America First Policy Institute’s Constitutional Litigation Partnership said during a phone interview with the New York Post.
“But the defendants do not apply their rules evenly or consistently — they censor specific voices and thought so that other users only hear one side of a story,” Sullivan added.
“They encourage users to become reliant on them as one of their main vehicles of communication and in many cases livelihood and now defendants are choosing the winners and losers of society,” she also noted.
Judge Kevin Michael Moore is presiding over the suit against YouTube in the Southern District of Florida, according to the report.
The former president’s YouTube channel had 2.73 million subscribers at the time it was shut down following the events of Jan. 6.
The actions follow Trump’s announcement during a news conference in July that he would lead a class-action lawsuit against Twitter, Facebook and Google after they removed him from their platforms following the Jan. 6 Capitol incursion.
“I stand before you this morning to announce a very important … development for our freedom and freedom of speech,” he said at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
President Trump is making history today and standing up to Big Tech!
Tune into @RSBNetwork NOW ??https://t.co/TSYoUKj89G
— Caleb Thompson (@calebthom1) July 7, 2021
“Today, in conjunction with the America First Policy Institute, I’m filing, as the lead class action representative, a major class-action lawsuit against the Big Tech giants, including Facebook, Google and Twitter, as well as their CEOs, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey,” Trump said.
“There is no better evidence that Big Tech is out of control than the fact that they banned the sitting president of the United States earlier this year,” he added.
“If they can do it to me they can do it to anyone. And in fact, that is exactly what they’re doing.”
“If they can do it to me, they can do it to anyone. And in fact, that is exactly what they’re doing.” pic.twitter.com/y982w89l0b
— RSBN ?? (@RSBNetwork) July 7, 2021
“The American people’s birthright of freedom must prevail against Big Tech and other forces that seek to destroy it. Through this lawsuit, we are standing up for American democracy by standing up for free speech rights of every American,” Trump added.
“The American people’s birthright of freedom must prevail against Big Tech and other forces that seek to destroy it. Through this lawsuit, we are standing up for American democracy by standing up for free speech rights for all of every American.” pic.twitter.com/2lRd2kpbiC
— RSBN ?? (@RSBNetwork) July 7, 2021
Trump has similar lawsuits in progress against Twitter and Facebook. In June, Facebook said it will look to “experts” to review whether Trump can be reinstated in January 2023.
“We will evaluate external factors, including instances of violence, restrictions on peaceful assembly and other markers of civil unrest,” Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs, said in a statement.
“If we determine that there is still a serious risk to public safety, we will extend the restriction for a set period of time and continue to re-evaluate until that risk has receded,” Clegg said.
“When the suspension is eventually lifted, there will be a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions that will be triggered if Mr. Trump commits further violations in future, up to and including permanent removal of his pages and accounts.”
The decision applied to both Facebook and Instagram. The former president had nearly 60 million followers across the two platforms, according to CNN.
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