PDA

View Full Version : Nunes sues Twitter, some users, seeks over $250M




Swordsmyth
03-18-2019, 06:34 PM
California GOP Rep. Devin Nunes (https://insider.foxnews.com/tag/devin-nunes) filed a major lawsuit seeking $250 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages against Twitter and a handful of its users on Monday, accusing the social media site of "shadow-banning conservatives" including himself to influence the 2018 elections, systematically censoring opposing viewpoints and totally "ignoring" lawful complaints of repeated abusive behavior.
In a complaint (https://www.scribd.com/document/402297422/Nunes-Complaint-3-18-19) filed in Virginia state court on Monday, obtained by Fox News, Nunes claimed Twitter wanted to derail his work on the House Intelligence Committee, which he chaired until 2019, as he looked into alleged and apparent surveillance abuses (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-told-fisa-court-steele-wasnt-source-of-report-used-to-justify-surveilling-trump-team-docs-show) by the government. Nunes said Twitter was guilty of "knowingly hosting and monetizing content that is clearly abusive, hateful and defamatory – providing both a voice and financial incentive to the defamers – thereby facilitating defamation on its platform."
The lawsuit alleged defamation, conspiracy and negligence, and sought not only damages, but also an injunction compelling Twitter to turn over the identities behind numerous accounts he said harassed and defamed him. The lawsuit is separate from Nunes' work on the House Intelligence Committee, where he is now the ranking member.
“Twitter is a machine," Nunes' personal attorney, Steven S. Biss, told Fox News. "It is a modern-day Tammany Hall. Congressman Nunes intends to hold Twitter fully accountable for its abusive behavior and misconduct.”
Although federal law ordinarily exempts services like Twitter from defamation liability, Nunes' suit said the platform has taken such an active role in curating and banning content -- as opposed to merely hosting it -- that it should face liability like any other organization that defames.
"Twitter created and developed the content at issue in this case by transforming false accusations of criminal conduct, imputed wrongdoing, dishonesty and lack of integrity into a publicly available commodity used by unscrupulous political operatives and their donor/clients as a weapon," Nunes' legal team wrote. "Twitter is 'responsible' for the development of offensive content on its platform because it in some way specifically encourages development of what is offensive about the content."


Additionally, as the complaint stated, Twitter has a duty to exercise reasonable care to avoid hosting outwardly defamatory content because of its increasingly important role in current affairs.
"Access to Twitter is essential for meaningful participation in modern-day American Democracy," the complaint stated. "A candidate without Twitter is a losing candidate. The ability to use Twitter is a vital part of modern citizenship. A presence on Twitter is essential for an individual to run for office or engage in any level of political organizing in modern America. That is because Twitter is not merely a website: it is the modern town square. Twitter is equivalent to the private owner of a public forum who has fully opened its property to the general public for purposes of permitting the public’s free expression and debate. That is, in fact, what Twitter has always claimed to be."
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has testified previously before Congress that his platform is a kind of "digital public square," although he has insisted that Twitter, as a private company, retains the right to censor speech.
In large part because of Twitter's actions, Nunes "endured an orchestrated defamation campaign of stunning breadth and scope, one that no human being should ever have to bear and suffer in their whole life" in the past year, according to the complaint.

More at: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nunes-files-bombshell-defamation-suit-against-twitter-seeks-250m-for-anti-conservative-shadow-bans-smears

timosman
03-18-2019, 06:36 PM
Rep. Nunes might learn a thing or two about how the justice system works in reality. :cool:

TheCount
03-18-2019, 06:50 PM
What an idiot. The Onion could not possibly write a better joke than this.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1-aBv8XgAUNmV0.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1-bME0X0AA4FwA.jpg:large




https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1-yK1GWsAE8Aur.jpg:large


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1-ygrQWkAA7cv2.jpg:large

TheCount
03-18-2019, 06:51 PM
An actual exhibit from the complaint:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1-ew4lW0AAQ3K1.jpg:large

Stratovarious
03-18-2019, 06:59 PM
Mark Suckerbuttberg will be the expert witness on behalf or Twitter.

TheCount
03-20-2019, 05:25 AM
Nunes' cow went from having 1,279 followers to 315,000 followers in 48 hours.

timosman
03-20-2019, 05:33 AM
Nunes' cow went from having 1,279 followers to 315,000 followers in 48 hours.

Game on. Twitter becomes 4chan. :cool:

timosman
03-23-2019, 01:35 AM
Doesn't seem the lawsuit has been filed

https://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/article228102484.html


But the document does not bear an official stamp, mark or case number, and Virginia’s online courts database had no record of it being filed as of 5 p.m. Monday. The Bee reached out Biss and Nunes seeking to authenticate it.