Freedom of the Press Foundation and The Intercept sue Trump after Trump Media & Technology rolled out a subscription service for faster access to Trump's posts
President Donald Trump was sued in federal court Wednesday to stop him from making money off a new, paid service …
Trump Media & Technology’s faster-access subscription service now faces a federal-court challenge from the Freedom of the Press Foundation and The Intercept, putting its ability to monetize earlier access to Trump’s posts under legal scrutiny.
The service creates an immediate timing distinction between subscribers and non-subscribers for the same posts, the access arrangement at the center of the plaintiffs’ case.
Second-order effects
The dispute shifts the access question from who may be excluded from a political account to whether faster delivery can be sold, extending the issue raised in the earlier Twitter-blocking lawsuit to a paid distribution model.
Trump Media & Technology must defend the subscription offering while the plaintiffs seek to stop Trump from profiting from it, making the service’s legal basis as important as its subscriber proposition.
Third-order effects
If courts treat paid priority for a president’s posts as a distinct constitutional access issue, political communication platforms may face greater separation between commercial subscription features and the distribution of official-facing messages.
The trend: The case is part of a broader shift from disputes over access to political social-media accounts toward disputes over how access can be commercially tiered.
We just brought a MAJOR new lawsuit to stop Trump from profiteering off of his market-moving Truth Social posts by charging $100,000 monthly for faster access to official government announcements. This scheme violates the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution. [image]
Trump's crooked scheme is particularly outrageous because he frequently uses his Truth Social account to berate journalists and even to announce his plans to sue them and criminally investigate them. Then, he makes them wait in line behind paying customers to find out about it. […
@HormuzLetter I miss back in the day when they did illegal things behind closed doors. It is now so obvious and in your face. Not worried at all. Arrogance and greed. Now Trump needs to figure out how to buy more votes for the midterms
The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation sued President Donald Trump and his staff Wednesday, challenging a Trump-owned media company's plan to monetize the president's social media posts. [image]
BREAKING: FPF, @theintercept sue Trump for selling early access to his Truth Social posts. This scheme is extraordinary, corrupt, and unconstitutional, and we are bringing this case to stop it. https://freedom.press/...
BREAKING: The Intercept and @FreedomofPress have filed a lawsuit in SDNY challenging Truth Social's “Truth API” scheme to monetize Trump posts, which they describe as an “out-and-out plan of extortion” in violation of the First and Fifth amendments https://theintercept.com/...
BREAKING: We just filed a lawsuit, on behalf of @FreedomofPress and @theintercept, over Trump's $100,000 subscription for early access to his official government statements on Truth Social. Not only is this latest scheme obscene, it's a blatant violation of the Constitution.