Trump Lawsuit Assessments the First Modification

July 13, 2021 1:24 p.m. ET

Former President Donald Trump.


Photo:

LM Otero / associated press

Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Big Tech is unfounded (“Why I’m Suing Big Tech,” op-ed, July 9). The First Amendment does not apply to business contracts between individuals such as the license agreements that Mr. Trump has concluded with social media companies. Mr Trump was banned from using the companies’ platforms for violating the terms of his agreements. His sound and anger at his distance mean nothing. All types of commercial contracts restrict a party’s speaking rights. Mr. Trump knows this. He is constantly censoring the nondisclosure provisions in contracts he enters into with employees and others.

Mitchell Seider

Scarsdale, NY

President Trump is right in criticizing the left’s efforts to control social media’s handling of news, but he’s doing the same. Both in and out of office, he worked to harness the power of government to dictate how social media handles controversial news and views. Consider Mr Trump’s antitrust lawsuit against Google or his order against Section 230.

The government must not be able to pressure social media platforms to treat the news the way the current or former president prefers. Mr Trump’s recent attempt is a step towards a state internet and exactly the kind of measures that the First Amendment protects against.

Mr Trump’s focus on Section 230, a law that allows websites to host a plethora of user-generated content, is a red herring. The law was neither designed nor intended to pressure media companies to give preferred speeches by the government of the time.

Carl Szabo

NetChoice

Washington

Hurray for Donald Trump, always the fighter. I pray for freedom in America that he and others will succeed. Had Mr. Trump’s presidential personality been as measured and articulated as his article in the Wall Street Journal, he would have been landslide re-elected.

T. Scott DuBose

Pawleys Island, SC

As for the reasons Mr. Trump is suing Big Tech, all I can say is who cares? His silence on social media is golden.

Ron Adler

Davidson, NC

Trump claims, “Social media has become as central to freedom of expression as it was in previous generations, meeting halls, newspapers and television networks.” Newspapers remain responsible for reported facts and published opinions. Republicans believe much of the news media is biased. If Facebook selectively censors a user’s “editorial staff”, it could also be accused of bias. But who should be the judge – the government or the news consumer?

Hollister Sykes

Cranford, New Jersey

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