Notorious far-right provocateur and man once voted the worst person on Twitter, Chuck Johnson, is suing the social media network over the lifetime suspension he received in 2015.
Johnson, who has a controversial past of doxing people on Twitter, was banned from the site for a call to “take out” Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson, which the site considered a death threat.
Johnson’s lawsuit comes in the wake of a BuzzFeed report about the site’s decision to ban Johnson, which he called “a political hit job on a politically disfavored individual.” In the emails revealed by BuzzFeed, the decision to ban Johnson was not over “direct violent threats,” but rather “a call that the policy team made.”
Speaking to BuzzFeed, Johnson said the case had serious First Amendment implications.
“This is going to be a very serious case over the freedom of the internet. And whether people have the right to say what they mean and mean what they say,” he added.
Far-right figureheads on Twitter have had a tortured relationship with the site. In recent months, the site has cracked down on hate speech in an uneven fashion, and conservatives feel they are being unfairly targeted.
Numerous conservative figureheads have been de-verified by the site, which some considered to be censorship of free speech.
Johnson’s suit seeks millions of dollars in damages, for the effect the ban supposedly had on his media business.
