HENRICO, Va. (AP) — A circuit judge in Virginia this week dismissed Twitter from a lawsuit filed by Republican U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes of California against the social media platform and several of its users.
Henrico County Circuit Judge John Marshall on Wednesday ruled Twitter is not liable for allegedly slanderous tweets about Nunes that were posted anonymously, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Thursday. Marshall cited a federal law that provides internet services with immunity from liability for material posted by their users.
Nunes “seeks to have the court treat Twitter as the publisher or speaker of the content provided by others based on its allowing or not allowing certain content to be on its internet platform,” Marshall said in his ruling. “The court refuses to do so.”
Nunes had accused Twitter of “knowingly hosting and monetizing content that is clearly abusive, hateful and defamatory.”
The newspaper reported that a Republican strategist and two anonymous parody accounts, “Devin Nunes’ Mom” and “Devin Nunes’ Cow,” are still defendants in the case.
Nunes’ attorney and his congressional office did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.
