On Thursday, Donald Trump’s legal team sued Facebook and Instagram, demanding that Trump’s accounts get reinstated on the platforms.
Filing their lawsuit in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Trump’s team is requesting an injunction that would force Facebook to reactivate Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
Trump’s combined follower count is around 59,000,000
According to the original reporting from the Washington Examiner, Trump’s attorney, John Coale, said “This preliminary injunction against Facebook seems appropriate to file this week since they’ve been big in the news lately for all the issues they’re facing.”
Coale also said, “Zuckerberg and Facebook say it’s the 21st-century public town square; if so, they should uphold the First Amendment.” He also said, “You can’t have it both ways. They’re like a public utility when it comes to speech.”
This is the second of such lawsuits Trump has filed since his social media ban was enacted earlier this year.
On July 7th, Trump said during a press conference, “We’re demanding an end to the shadow banning, a stop to the silencing, and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing, and canceling that you know so well. Our case will prove this censorship is unlawful, it’s unconstitutional, and it’s completely un-American.” These comments came after his original lawsuits against tech giants were filed.
Trump went on to say, “It will be a pivotal battle in the defense of the First Amendment. And in the end, I am confident that we will achieve a historic victory for American freedom, and at the same time freedom of speech.”