OAKLAND, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – YouTube has asked a federal judge to toss a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump, who alleges he was unfairly banned from its platform.
Trump, the American Conservative Union and others filed a proposed class action on behalf of banned YouTube users in Oakland, Calif., federal court earlier this year. On Dec. 2, YouTube filed its motion to dismiss.
“By seeking to treat the judgments of a private online service provider as a state action, Plaintiffs flip the First Amendment on its head,” attorneys for the company wrote.
“They misuse the Declaratory Judgment Act to mount a baseless constitutional attack on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. And they improperly invoke Florida law to try to override YouTube’s own choices about what material belongs on its service.
“Mr. Trump also moves for a sweeping injunction that would force YouTube to provide him with a free and unregulated platform for his speech – a request that is improper on its own terms and that would conflict with YouTube’s own First Amendment rights.”
The booting of Trump from social media following the Jan. 6 siege at the U.S. Capitol has led to litigation and legislation. Texas and Florida passed laws that would make Facebook and Twitter come up with guidelines for banning that would be applied equally to every user despite their “viewpoints.”
Judges have blocked those laws from taking effect in both states. YouTube says courts have also rejected legal challenges to bans, calling the issues raised by Trump “neither new nor difficult.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled YouTube is not a state actor whose editorial choices are constrained by the First Amendment – “It is a private company with its own right to decide what material to disseminate and on what terms,” the motion says.
“Mr. Trump waited more than seven months after YouTube suspended his account to first seek an injunction – confirming the lack of urgency and absence of irreparable harm,” the motion adds.
“In fact, it is YouTube that would face irreparable injury if forced to publish (and thus effectively subsidize) Mr. Trump’s speech.”