Washington (AFP)

Evicted from major social networks since the murderous assault on Capitol Hill, former US President Donald Trump on Wednesday filed collective complaints against Facebook, Twitter, Google and their bosses, accusing them of being responsible for "illegal censorship , unconstitutional ".

"We are engaged in a fight that we will win," to defend freedom of expression, promised the Republican, at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

But the chances of this complaint succeeding are slim, according to legal experts.

XX "Social media has given extraordinary power to a group of Big Tech giants who are working with authorities, the mainstream media, and a large part of a political party to silence and eliminate the views of Americans," said accused the 45th President of the United States, who flirts with new candidacy in 2024.

In front of an audience of guests, the billionaire explained having filed, alongside an organization that promotes its policies defending "America first", the America First Policy Institute, "a major collective legal action against tech giants including Facebook, Google and Twitter, as well as their bosses Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey ".

These three bosses "implement an illegal, unconstitutional censorship", he said to the applause of the public, during a formal speech behind a podium where his name was inscribed.

"There is no better proof that Big Tech is out of control than the fact that they have banned the President of the United States in office" from their platforms.

"If they can do it to me, they can do it to anyone. And besides, that's exactly what they do," he said, giving the floor to citizens. also saying victims of bans.

With this complaint, Donald Trump said he hoped that the federal court for the southern district of Florida would order "the immediate end of illegal and shameful censorship on the part of" social networks.

- "Convinced that Trump will lose" -

In June, Facebook suspended Donald Trump for two years.

The Republican had already been excluded from the platform, temporarily, on January 7 when he was still president for having encouraged his supporters during the attack on the Capitol in Washington the day before, an unprecedented decision.

The social network Twitter had also ousted him after the murderous assault on the Capitol carried out during the certification ceremony of the victory of his rival Joe Biden, on January 6.

Before being banned, Donald Trump had nearly 89 million followers on Twitter - where he had announced many major presidential decisions and thunderous sackings - as well as 35 million on Facebook and 24 million on Instagram.

On these platforms, he had also minimized the seriousness of the pandemic and denounced so-called electoral fraud, never demonstrated in court.

"Google and YouTube have deleted countless videos that dared to question the judgment of the World Health Organization" during the Covid-19 pandemic, said the former president to justify this complaint.

The real estate mogul has been the source of numerous litigation during his career, but these have rarely been successful.

"We are not trying to get an agreement" with prosecutors that would allow him to avoid a trial, he said on Wednesday.

But for Eric Goldman, a high tech law professor at the University of Santa Clara who has studied 61 similar complaints against social networks, Mr. Trump's approach has no chance of success.

"The First Amendment" of the US Constitution, which defends freedom of expression "only constrains public actors, not private organizations," he told AFP.

"Based on these 61 records, I am confident Trump will lose."

For Matt Schruers, chairman of the tech giant CCIA lobby, "frivolous class actions will not change the fact that users, even presidents of the United States, must abide by the rules they have accepted."

© 2021 AFP