Reinstated Trump still suing Twitter

Former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account was reinstated by the social-media site’s new boss, Elon Musk, but that doesn’t mean the ex-tweeter-inchief will end his legal battle against the San Francisco-based company, his lawyer said.

Trump attorney John Coale told Bloomberg News that his client refuses to drop his appeal of an earlier court decision to toss his lawsuit against Twitter for banning him from the service in the wake of the rioting at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

In May, a San Francisco federal judge appointed by Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, threw out the suit against Twitter that accused the site of unlawfully censoring him and violating his First Amendment rights.

Judge James Donato also rebuffed Trump’s efforts to challenge Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields socialmedia platforms from litigation for content that their users post.

Legal experts predicted that the lawsuit had little chance of succeeding in court. Instead, observers said, it was a political move launched by Trump, who has also sued Facebook parent company Meta, as well as Alphabet’s Google, to gin up support among his followers.

Coale said Musk’s decision to follow through on his pledge to reinstate Trump’s account did nothing to change the calculus.

Coale told Bloomberg that Musk should have communicated with Trump’s team before making a decision.

“There’s more to it than just letting him back in, so we want to talk to see if we can figure something out,” Coale told Bloomberg.

Musk announced on Nov. 19 that Trump was allowed back on Twitter.