Nunes sues Twitter, some users, seeks over $250M alleging anti-conservative 'shadow bans,' smears
Source: MSN
California GOP Rep. Devin Nunes filed a major lawsuit seeking $250 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages against Twitter and a handful of its users on Monday, accusing the social media site of "shadow-banning conservatives" including himself to influence the 2018 elections, explicitly and systematically censoring opposing viewpoints and "ignoring" lawful complaints of repeated abusive behavior.
In a complaint filed in Virginia state court on Monday, 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."
Although federal law ordinarily exempts services like Twitter from defamation liability, Nunes' suit said the platform has taken such an active role in curating and banning content that it should lose that protection and 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.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/nunes-sues-twitter-some-users-seeks-over-dollar250m-alleging-anti-conservative-shadow-bans-smears/ar-BBUW0dO
I didn't know what a "shadow ban" was, so I found this.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/26/us/politics/twitter-shadowbanning.html
July 26, 2018
When President Trump accused Twitter of "shadow banning" Republicans in a tweet on Thursday morning, it was the latest salvo in a long-running debate over whether social media platforms suppress conservative users because of their political views.
SNIP
Is Twitter shadow banning Republicans?
No, it is not. Vice claimed that Twitter was shadow banning some Republicans because their accounts "no longer appear in the auto-populated drop-down search box."
The profiles appear when conducting a full search, the article noted, but not in the "more convenient and visible drop-down bar."
Basically, you could still search for the accounts, but Twitter would not automatically suggest them. But that is not what shadow banning means -- or meant before this week -- and on Wednesday and Thursday, the internet engaged in a real-time debate over its definition.
In a statement, Twitter flatly rejected the claim made by Vice: "As we have said before, we do not 'shadowban.'"
= new reply since forum marked as read
Took the words right outta my mouth. The GOP is all for "private industry" and "freedumbs"....until they aren't. 
Conservatives aren't getting banned because they're conservative. They're getting banned because they're hateful dicks! Don't want to get banned from social media sites? Don't be a hateful dick. It's that simple! 
They’re wiping the floor with him
IT’S TOO MUCH FUN!!
Lawsuit Against Twitter, Two Anonymous
Twitter Accounts
Link to tweet
OMG!!!
Whoever hears this case will probably agree.
......... ........ ........
Pun intended 
The Onion Wednesday 2:06pm
WASHINGTON—Vowing to fight tooth and nail against what he called “an insidious smear campaign,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) announced Wednesday he was considering filing a defamation lawsuit against his official Twitter account for ruining his reputation. “The figure behind @DevinNunes has disparaged my good name in what appears to be a highly coordinated effort to make me look like some kind of whiny, impetuous idiot,” said the House Intelligence Committee’s ranking member, who accused the verified account of repeatedly posting and sharing content that has portrayed him as “a crackpot with abhorrent views” since the profile was first created in 2009. “The fact that Twitter has allowed this account to exist for nearly a decade is a major testament to the platform’s left-leaning bias. They’ve stood idly by and watched while my official account has spewed out nothing but drivel and lies. This is character assassination, pure and simple.” Nunes added that hopefully the lawsuit would serve as a stern warning to other outlets that have smeared him, including his official Facebook account, his official campaign website, and Nunes.house.gov.
No more at link: https://politics.theonion.com/devin-nunes-threatens-defamation-lawsuit-after-reputati-1833444233