see you in court?
Trump reportedly plans to launch class-action lawsuits against Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey
Former President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to announce lawsuits against Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey after getting kicked off their platforms.
Trump on Wednesday will announce class action lawsuits against Zuckerberg and Dorsey, which would allow him to sue "on behalf of a broader group of people that he argues have been censored by biased policies," Axios reported. The non-profit America First Policy Institute is reportedly supporting his effort.
Trump was permanently banned by Twitter due to his actions surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. At the time, Twitter cited the "risk of further incitement of violence." Facebook, meanwhile, indefinitely suspended Trump for inciting "violent insurrection against a democratically elected government," and the platform later announced he would stay banned until at least 2023.
Reports of Trump's planned social media lawsuits were met with some skepticism from pundits, though, with reporter Ben Jacobs observing, "Assuming the lawsuit advances (which is a big if), Trump will have to give sworn testimony about January 6," and The New York Times' Jane Coaston arguing this is "something he and his legal team are well aware of, and why this is a performance." Plus, The Washington Post's Philip Bump noted that "will sue" is not the same as "is suing," and Axios writes, "Trump has often sued people in the course of his career, but rarely actually followed through in terms of winning a judgment or even taking cases to trial."