Google, Apple, Facebook and Twitter in an anti-conservative bias case

Appeals court rules in favor of Google, Apple, Facebook and Twitter in anti-conservative bias case

Donald Trump took to Twitter the same day to threaten to control or close down social media platforms, the US court of appeal in Washington , D.C. A complaint accusing top-tech firms of silencing conservative voices was dismissed. Filed in 2018 by Freedom Watch and Laura Loomer, the case accused Apple, Facebook , Twitter and Google of stifling First Amendment freedoms.

The suit argued that four of the biggest names in tech "have engaged in a scheme to intentionally and knowingly censor politically conservative material." It explicitly cited Loomer 's ban on Twitter and Facebook, following a tweet regarding Ilhan Omar, a Congresswoman. Also noted is her inability to develop an audience base and revenue on Google's YouTube, indicating that since Trump's election "growth on these platforms has come to a complete halt and its audience base and revenue generated either plateaued or declined."

In the decision, District Judge Trevor McFadden states that Freedom Watch and Loomer refused to back up a argument that the companies were "state actors," participating in free speech control. "The Plaintiffs do not show how the alleged conduct of the Platforms can be treated fairly as actions taken by the government itself," writes the judge. "Facebook and Twitter, for example, are private companies which do not become 'state actors' focused solely on supplying the public with their social media networks."

In other words, the companies can not violate the first amendment, because banning users does not constitute an abridgement of free speech by the government. According to the ruling, "Freedom Watch fails to point out relevant evidence that suggest that these Platforms are engaging in state action and thereby fail to make a credible argument for First Amendment."