BREAKING: Former NYT Journalist Sues Twitter Over Ban

 Twitter has a track record of censoring conservatives that has led to intense criticism in the past.  During the 2020 Presidential election, Twitter came under fire for blocking leaked content from Hunter Biden’s laptop from being posted on their website.  In August, Twitter banned former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson, who was #1 New York Times Best Seller who has won accolodates for his reporting. Twitter reportedly banned him for being skeptical of the Covid-19 vaccine and downplaying the ‘seriousness’ of the pandemic.  Now, he is suing Twitter in California to have his ban overturned.  The Epoch Times Reports–

“Former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson sued Twitter this week, alleging his permanent suspension from the social media platform violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and federal and California laws.

Berenson was banned from Twitter in August. Twitter said he repeatedly violated the company’s COVID-19 misinformation rules. The rules prohibit sharing “false or misleading information about COVID-19 which may lead to harm,”

Berenson’s suit demands that his account is reinstated on Twitter.  He is also seeking financial damages under the U.S. Lanham Act, the California common carrier law, and the California Unfair Competition Law.

Berenson alleges that Twitter assured him that they would not ban him for his views on Covid or for vaccine skepticism, but was banned anyways in August.

Twitter is likely to take an even harsher stance on censorship in the new future with the appointment of a far left CEO after Jack Dorsey stepped down last month.  Twitter Chief Tech Officer Parag Agrawal, the new CEO of Twitter, said in an interview that he does not see protection of free speech as a priority at Twitter.

“Our role is not to be bound by the First Amendment, but our role is to serve a healthy public conversation and our moves are reflective of things that we believe lead to a healthier public conversation. The kinds of things that we do about this is, focus less on thinking about free speech, but thinking about how the times have changed.”  He said.