Fla. judge: Trump can’t skirt from Twitter’s terms
A Florida federal judge ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump’s status as a former president does not exclude him from following Twitter’s terms of service, the latest setback in his quest to get back on the social media platform after being banned this year.
U.S. District Judge Robert Scola Jr. granted Twitter’s motion to transfer the case from the Southern District of Florida to the Northern District of California, which is required by a clause in the company’s user agreement that all Twitter users sign. The case stems from Twitter permanently suspending Mr. Trump shortly after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol that led to five deaths and injuries to hundreds of people.
While Mr. Trump’s attorneys have argued that his status as former president exempts him from Twitter’s clause, and that it was in the public’s interest for the case to stay in Florida, Judge Scola was unconvinced. In his 13-page ruling, the Miami judge noted that Mr. Trump, who lives in Florida, “has not advanced any legal authority to support his contention.”
“The Court finds that Trump’s status as President of the United States does not exclude him from the requirements of the forum selection clause in Twitter’s Terms of Service,” wrote Judge Scola, an appointee of President Barack Obama. “The Plaintiffs have failed to satisfy their heavy burden to show that this case should not be transferred.”
The move followed a ruling from another Florida federal judge earlier this month who granted a similar request to move Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against Google-owned YouTube to a California court. Mr. Trump, who has asked a court to mandate that Twitter restore his account, has also filed a class-action lawsuit against Facebook, arguing, with little substantiation, that social media giants are “silencing” him and other conservatives. Mr. Trump has also argued, without evidence, that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey “succumbed to the coercion efforts of Democratic lawmakers.”
Taylor Bulowich, a spokesman for Mr. Trump, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Neither Linda Cuadros nor a spokesperson for the American Conservative Union, who are listed as co-plaintiffs in Mr. Trump’s lawsuit, immediately responded to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ruling comes as Mr. Trump is fighting social media companies in the courts over alleged censorship issues, while simultaneously attempting to launch his own social media platform to, as he wrote, “stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech.” The former president announced last week he would be starting a new platform called Truth Social, even as pranksters were able to post a picture of a defecating pig to the “donaldjtrump” account on an unreleased test version of the site.
“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced,” Mr. Trump said. “This is unacceptable.”
Twitter banned Mr. Trump after the Jan. 6 uprising, saying it had made the decision “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”