Trump files class action lawsuits targeting Facebook, Twitter and ...

But the lawsuits, filed in federal district court in Miami, raised a series of legal claims that will find favor among Trump’s most fervent supporters who have long argued that the social media companies treat conservative voices unfairly.“We’re demanding an end to the shadowbanning, a stop to the silencing, and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing and canceling that you know so well,” Trump said.The suits allege that the companies violated Trump’s First Amendment rights in suspending his accounts and argues that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, which is owned by Google, no longer should be considered private companies but “a state actor” whose actions are constrained by First Amendment restrictions on government limitations on free speech. “It just seems like this is an ‘It’s ok if I do it, it’s not ok if other people do it,’” Szabo said.Jessica Melugin, director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at the libertarian group Competitive Enterprise Institute, called the lawsuit a “publicity stunt” in an emailed statement.“These social media platforms are private property, not the government town square, and are well within their First Amendment rights to refuse to carry speech of third parties,” she said.Twitter in January permanently suspended Trump’s account, citing the risk of further violence in the wake of the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol.