Far-left social networking platform Twitter has restored the account of science journalist Alex Berenson as it moves to settle a lawsuit brought by the prominent skeptic of coronavirus policies.
Twitter reversing the permanent blacklisting of a prominent account is virtually unheard of. Bans on prominent conservative politicians, including Donald Trump while he was still President, remain in effect.
Berenson said his lawsuit proves that anyone suspended for “COVID-19 misinformation,” the pretext used to blacklist him from the platform, now had a case against the company.
2/ But the second was that Twitter had begun the process of modifying its terms of service when it set up its five-strike Covid misinformation policy. In other words, if Twitter's position is that it can ban anyone for any reason, fine, Section 230 allows that…
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) July 7, 2022
“Federal Judge William Alsup offered TWO justifications for letting my lawsuit proceed on breach of contract grounds when he rejected Twitter’s motion to dismiss in April,” said Berenson. “The first was a Twitter executive’s emails to me, which applies only to my case. But the second was that Twitter had begun the process of modifying its terms of service when it set up its five-strike Covid misinformation policy.”
“In other words, if Twitter’s position is that it can ban anyone for any reason, fine, Section 230 allows that,” continued Berenson. “But once the company voluntarily sets guidelines that it says it will follow in disciplining or banning users, IT MUST FOLLOW THOSE — possibly even if its underlying terms of service explicitly say otherwise.”
4/ "Plaintiff plausibly avers that Twitter's conduct here modified its contract with plaintiff and then breached that contract by failing to abide by its own five-strike policy and its specific commitments set forth through its vice president." (From the ruling.)…
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) July 7, 2022
6/ So if you've been banned for Covid misinformation – or ANY specific and named violation of Twitter's policies – and you have a plausible case that you did not in fact violate those polices – hello breach of contract case.
Thanks O'Berenson!
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) July 7, 2022
” In settling the case, acknowledging error, and reinstating me, Twitter has inherently — and publicly — accepted this theory of its contractual obligations.”
“So if you’ve been banned for Covid misinformation — or ANY specific and named violation of Twitter’s policies — and you have a plausible case that you did not in fact violate those polices — hello breach of contract case.”
Berenson announced his settlement with Twitter last week. As with most legal cases, few details about the settlement can be made known to the public.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.
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