Trump sues social media giants over 'illegal' censorship

Former US president Donald Trump is suing three of the largest tech companies in the United States on grounds that they have deprived him and other conservatives of their constitutional rights to free speech.

Trump announced the actions against Facebook, Twitter and Google's YouTube, along with the social media companies' CEOs－Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Sundar Pichai, respectively－at a news conference in New Jersey on Wednesday. He was joined by other plaintiffs in the suits, which were filed in the federal court in Miami.

"We're asking the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida to order an immediate halt to social media companies' illegal, shameful censorship of the American people, and that's exactly what they are doing," Trump said. "We're demanding an end to the shadow banning, a stop to the silencing and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing and canceling that you know so well. Our case will prove this censorship is unlawful. It's unconstitutional and it's completely un-American."

According to the lawsuits that were filed, it argued that banning or suspending Trump and the other plaintiffs is a violation of the US Constitution's First Amendment. The suit against Facebook and Zuckerberg stated that Facebook acted unconstitutionally when it removed Trump from the platform. The filings against Twitter and You-Tube make similar claims.

Facebook, Google and Twitter all declined to comment on Wednesday.

"The lawsuit is a legally frivolous publicity stunt that has essentially no chance of succeeding in court, but a high chance of drawing a lot of attention," Blake Reid, a clinical professor at the University of Colorado Law School, told The New York Times.

Trump was suspended from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube after his followers stormed the Capitol on Jan 6.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this story.