NEW YORK, May 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- American Values
2024 (AV24), along with Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr., has filed the attached election interference
case against Meta Platforms, Inc., Facebook Operations, LLC,
Instagram, LLC, Mark Zuckerberg, and
John Does 1- 10.
Meta brazenly censored "speech by and
supportive of Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr."
The lawsuit accuses Meta et. al. of violating Plaintiffs First
Amendment rights, "civil rights law dating back to the Civil War,"
and "the American people's fundamental right to a presidential
election decided by voters, not by trillion-dollar
corporations."
According to the complaint, Meta brazenly censored "speech by
and supportive of Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and lying to the public
about it."
American Values 2024 released the thirty-minute film, "Who is
Bobby Kennedy?" on May 3rd. "Shortly after its release, Who
Is Bobby Kennedy began trending on X, the social media site
formerly known as Twitter," reads one of the lawsuit's first bullet
points. "Meta, however, censored it, blocking users on its
platforms from watching, sharing, or even posting a link
to Who Is Bobby Kennedy."
The complaint further claims that both Facebook and Instagram
"sent users messages threatening to suspend their accounts or
otherwise punish them if they sought to watch, share or even post a
link to the film."
The short film's original posting has now been viewed more than
100 million times on X, formerly Twitter, but its reach on
Instagram and Facebook has been minimal.
The complaint describes Meta censorship as "election
interference," stating, "Defendants seem to believe that they can
with legal impunity issue threats to their users and deploy their
vast power of censorship, account-suspension,
and deplatforming in order to favor or target the presidential
candidate of their choice."
It further states, "Under the Support and Advocacy Clause of the
Civil Rights Act of 1871, private companies and their officers and
employees cannot in concert seek to prevent by force, threat or
intimidation any citizen from engaging in lawful speech supporting
or advocating the election of a presidential candidate."
The complaint argues that Meta's current censorship must be seen
in the context of recent Supreme Court censorship case Murthy v.
Missouri. That case reveals "a
campaign of unrelenting pressure from the most powerful office in
the world" to "bend [social media platforms] to the government's
will." The district court called this collusion and partnership
between the White House government entities and officials and
social media platforms "arguably the most massive attack against
free speech in United States
history."
The complaint further quotes the district court as finding that
it was "certainly likely that defendants could use their power over
millions of people to suppress alternative views or moderate
content they do not agree with in the upcoming 2024 national
election."
Tony Lyons, Co-Founder of AV24,
stated the following: "Polls show that 20% of Americans still don't
know that Kennedy is running for president. And as many as 30% more
have been misled with respect to his character, his integrity, and
the policies that he advocates. Reaching those voters could change
the outcome of the 2024 election. How are people supposed to find
out that they have a viable alternative candidate– that they don't
have to vote for the lesser of two evils– when Meta is colluding
with the Biden administration to block key channels for
communicating with the American public?"
Conceived, filmed and produced by Apple TV +'s The Morning
Show creator Jay Carson and
director Mike Piscitelli, the film
tells Kennedy's story in an eloquent, candid, motivating, and
entertaining way. It details how the prevailing narrative about him
– "crazy," "dangerous," "unhinged" – bears little resemblance to
the reality of who he is and the work he's done as a successful
environmental attorney and corruption fighter.
The film is narrated by award-winning actor, Woody Harrelson.
Lawsuit
Exhibit A
Civil Cover Sheet
About AMERICAN VALUES 2024 (AV24)
American Values 2024 (AV24) is a super PAC committed to
educating and mobilizing voters to elect candidates who will
restore and protect the soul of democracy in the United States. Our long-term vision is to
build a movement starting at the local level to create a national
groundswell to address the critical issues our country faces.
Today, AV24 supports Robert F. Kennedy
Jr.'s presidential campaign. AV24 is co-founded by
Mark Gorton (Chairman of Tower
Research Capital) and Tony Lyons
(President of Skyhorse Publishing).
Media Contact
Lindsay Stevens
lindsay@av24.org
213-200-9638
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SOURCE American Values 2024