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A Trump supporter is trying to sue Twitter for 'banning' Donald Trump
Erik Estavillo is trying to take his frustration over Twitter's decision to 'ban' Trump from its platform to court.
3 min read
An American citizen is allegedly suing Twitter for "pain and suffering" after Twitter permanently suspended the outgoing US President Donald Trump’s account over posts that were deemed to incite violence that led to the storming of Capitol Hill.
A man called "Erik Estavillo" is attempting to sue Twitter, as well as Somali-American congresswoman Ilhan Omar and US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) who are leading the impeachment charge against the Trump.
The lawsuit was reportedly filed on Wednesday.
The court papers read that Estavillo "seeks restitution for the unsolicited and overbearing pain and suffering he experienced after the Sitting President Donald J Trump’s Twitter Account was banned, as well as seeking justice for the 88.7 million other followers who are now suffering adverse mental affects as they too were heavily invested in his account".
He goes on to condemn Twitter for "consistently prompting eastern communist philosophies through its platform on a daily basis which is consistently being perpetrated by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC) Ilhan Omar…enabling and endorsing socialist propaganda".
"Twitter is a private company, as journalist Hugh Hewitt pointed out on the very platform, and has nothing to do w/ the government at any level. Thus none of its decisions re who may or may not use its platform are constitutional issues".
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The court documents go on to disparage Ocasio Cortez, writing "AOC even has a white boyfriend and would never think of dating a Mexican such as the plaintiff, but she'll often cry out on twitter for racial equality. They're [AOC and Omar] are hypocrites".
People online have taken the court documents with humour, while others have suggested it could be a comic publicity stunt.
"Thanks for making me google Erik Estavillo. I need to go stab myself in the eyes with hot pokers," one Twitter user wrote.
Others wondered what lawyer would "risk" their career by taking the case.
Despite papers for the case appearing on an archive of court data, The New Arab could not independently confirm if the alleged case has proceeded.
Not all followers of Trump’s twitter account, another user quickly pointed out, were supporters.
"A good chunk of those 88.7 million followers were people like me, who only wanted to see what idiotic thing he would post so we could get our daily recommended dose of laughter in!"
Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended in the aftermath the violent invasion of the US Capitol by a mob of his supporters, which disrupted the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's election victory.
Twitter went a step further on Friday by deleting Trump's account, depriving him of his favourite megaphone.
Trump also was hit with suspensions from services like Snapchat and Twitch, and Facebook does not intend to lift the suspension on the outgoing president.