Trump calls out Facebook, Google and Twitter for being ‘on the side of the Radical Left Democrats’
President Donald Trump took to social media to blast Facebook, Google, and Twitter, saying the tech giants are ‘on the side of the Radical Left Democrats.’
President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to attack the very platform he uses to spread his message, as well as Facebook and Google, saying the companies are "on the side of the Radical Left Democrats."
"Facebook, Google and Twitter, not to mention the Corrupt Media, are sooo on the side of the Radical Left Democrats," Trump tweeted. "But fear not, we will win anyway, just like we did before!"
It's unclear what Trump was specifically referencing, but the three tech companies, which have a combined market cap of over $1.3 trillion, have come under fire in recent weeks from legislators on both sides of the aisle, including a $250 million lawsuit against Twitter by California GOP Rep. Devin Nunes.
Fox News has reached out to the White House, Facebook and Google for this story. Twitter declined to comment.
TWITTER'S JACK DORSEY SAYS COMPANY WAS PROBABLY 'WAY TOO AGGRESSIVE' IN BANNING CERTAIN ACCOUNTS
Nunes filed a lawsuit seeking $250 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages against the Jack Dorsey-led company and a handful of its users on Monday, accusing the social media site of "shadow-banning conservatives" to secretly hide their posts, systematically censoring opposing viewpoints, and totally "ignoring" lawful complaints of repeated abusive behavior.
A source familiar with the matter disputed the allegations, noting Twitter enforces its rules "dispassionately and equally" for all users, regardless of their political leanings or backgrounds.
In a complaint 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 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, as well as violations of the state's prohibition against "insulting words" -- effectively fighting words that tend towards "violence and breach of the peace." The complaint sought not only damages, but also an injunction compelling Twitter to turn over the identities behind numerous accounts he said harassed and defamed him.
“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 at all levels, 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."
Dorsey, whose company has been accused of "shadow banning" prominent Republicans in the past, recently said the company was probably "way too aggressive" in banning certain accounts, including right-wing activists. Twitter has denied shadow banning in the past.
Speaking on a podcast with Joe Rogan, Dorsey said the bans were probably the consequence of "our team having a lack of context into what's happening as well." He later added that Twitter "would fully admit we were probably way too aggressive when we first saw this, as well."
Aiding China
Google has also drawn the ire of the Trump administration after the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told a Senate panel that Google’s work in China is benefiting the nation’s military.
“The work that Google is doing in China is indirectly benefiting the Chinese military,” Gen. Joseph Dunford told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Indirect maybe not be a full characterization of the way it is. It’s more of a direct benefit to the Chinese military.”
Trump tweeted that this was "terrible," while adding that they also helped "Crooked Hillary Clinton," though he did not specifically mention how the company helped the former Democratic presidential candidate.
In a statement, a Google spokesperson said: "We are not working with the Chinese military. We are working with the U.S. government, including the Department of Defense, in many areas including cybersecurity, recruiting and healthcare.” The statement was posted on Twitter by Wall Street Journal reporter Vivian Salama.
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Fox News' Christopher Carbone, Louis Casiano, Gregg Re, Catherine Herridge and Fox Business' Joe Williams contributed to this report.
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