WASHINGTON: Social media companies decided this past week they had finally seen enough from President Donald Trump.
Facebook and Instagram suspended Trump at least until Inauguration Day. Twitch and Snapchat also disabled Trumps accounts. To top it all off, Twitter ended a nearly 12-year run and shuttered his account, severing an instant line of communication to his 89 million followers.
Conservatives are crying foul.
Free Speech Is Under Attack! Censorship is happening like NEVER before! Dont let them silence us. Sign up at http://DONJR.COM to stay connected! his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., tweeted Friday.
CAN TWITTER AND FACEBOOK LEGALLY TAKE SUCH ACTION?
The short answer is yes.
As the Congressional Research Service has explained in a report for federal lawmakers and their staffs, lawsuits predicated on a websites decision to remove content largely fail. Thats because the free speech protections set out in the First Amendment generally apply only to when a person is harmed by an…