Trump asks Florida judge to force Twitter to restart his account

(Reuters) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump asked a federal judge in Florida to force Twitter (NYSE:) to reinstate his account, Bloomberg News reported late on Friday.

In July Trump sued (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-is-suing-facebook-twitter-google-claiming-bias-2021-07-07 Twitter), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:) Inc’s Google, as well as their chief executives, alleging they unlawfully silence conservative viewpoints.

Trump’s request for a preliminary injunction against Twitter was filed late on Friday in Miami, claiming the social media company canceled his account in January under pressure from his political rivals in Congress, the report said.

Twitter declined to comment. Trump’s representatives did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment outside business hours.

Trump lost his social media megaphone this year after the companies said he violated their policies against glorifying violence.

Hundreds of his supporters launched a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 after Trump in a speech repeating his false claims that his election defeat was the result of widespread fraud, an assertion rejected by multiple courts, state election officials and members of his own administration.

Twitter “exercises a degree of power and control over political discourse in this country that is immeasurable, historically unprecedented, and profoundly dangerous to open democratic debate,” Bloomberg quoted the former president’s request as saying.