Trump filed a request for preliminary injunction against Twitter in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, arguing the social media company was “coerced” by members of the U.S. Congress to suspend his account.
Twitter and several other social media platforms banned Trump from their services after a mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in a deadly riot on Jan. 6.
That assault followed a speech by Trump in which he reiterated false claims that his election loss in November was because of widespread fraud, an assertion rejected by multiple courts and state election officials.
Trump had more than 88 million followers on Twitter. The company kicked him off its platform on Jan. 8, two days after a mob of his supporters carried out a deadly attack on the Capitol to prevent President Joe Biden’s victory from being confirmed by Congress. Trump used Twitter and other social media platforms to falsely and repeatedly claim that the election had been rigged.
Twitter “exercises a degree of power and control over political discourse in this country that is immeasurable, historically unprecedented, and profoundly dangerous to open democratic debate,” the former president’s lawyers said in the filing.
Trump also claims Twitter improperly censored him during his presidency by labeling his tweets as “misleading information” or indicating they violated the company’s rules against “glorifying violence.”
