Rep. Devin Nunes’ lawsuit against Twitter and some of its users won’t be the last, according to the California congressman.
“This is the first of many, Sean,” Nunes told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “What we’re doing here is we’re actually going after Twitter first because they are the main proliferator and they spread fake news and slanderous news.”
Nunes filed a lawsuit late Monday in a Virginia state court, seeking millions of dollars in damages, and accused Twitter 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.”
In total, Nunes is seeking $250 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages for allegedly “shadow banning conservatives” to influence the 2018 midterm elections. He is also requesting an injunction to demand Twitter disclose the identities of certain Twitter accounts he claims targeted him, including accounts with the names “Devin Nunes’ Mom” and “Devin Nunes’ Cow.”
The complaint cites specific mocking tweets from those accounts. For instance, the complaint says “Devin Nunes’ Mom” falsely stated Nunes is a “lying piece of shit,” falsely suggested that Nunes would be open to giving Trump a “blowjob,” and falsely stated that Nunes has “herp-face.”
Nunes also accused Twitter of “shadow banning” him — a term used to describe when a user’s content becomes less visible to others — to limit his freedom of speech and “amplify” the voices of users such as “Devin Nunes’ Mom.”
“This is the first of many lawsuits that are coming,” Nunes told Hannity. “But there were several fake news accounts, whether it was in regard to the Russian investigation or to me, and we have to hold all of these people accountable. Because if we don’t, our First Amendment rights are at stake here.”
