Former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account has been restored by the social media site’s new boss, Elon Musk, but that doesn’t mean the ex-chief tweeter will end his legal battle against the San Francisco-based company, his attorney said .
Trump’s attorney, John Coale, told Bloomberg News that his client is refusing to drop his appeal against an earlier court decision to dismiss his lawsuit against Twitter over its suspension from service following the Jan. 6, 2021 US Capitol riots.
In May, a federal judge in San Francisco appointed by Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, dismissed his lawsuit against Twitter, accusing the site of unlawfully censoring him and violating his First Amendment rights.
Judge James Donato also dismissed Trump’s efforts to challenge Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects social media platforms from litigation over content their users post.
Legal experts predicted that the lawsuit in court had little chance of success. Instead, observers said it was a political move by Trump, who has also sued Facebook’s parent company Meta as well as Alphabet’s Google to garner support among his supporters.
Coale said Musk’s decision to keep his promise to restore Trump’s account didn’t change the bill. He told Bloomberg Musk should have communicated with Trump’s team before making a decision.
“It’s more than just letting him back in, so let’s talk to see if we can figure something out,” Coale told Bloomberg.
Since Musk’s Nov. 19 announcement that Trump would be allowed back on Twitter, Coale says there has been no dialogue between the site’s new management team and the former president’s advisers.
Coale said his famous client “told me he wasn’t interested [in resuming Twitter activities]but that could change.”
Trump created his own social media platform, Truth Social, following his ban on mainstream sites.
Corporate law experts said Trump could risk being sued by shareholders at his media company if he resumes tweeting, thereby debasing Truth Social.
Trump, who recently announced he will run for the White House in 2024, has repeatedly insisted he is happy staying with Truth Social.
Since taking over Twitter, Musk has revised the site’s content moderation policies and restored the accounts of controversial figures such as Trump, author Jordan Peterson, rapper Kanye West and satirical news site The Babylon Bee.
