California lawmaker sues Twitter for allowing parody accounts claiming to be his mom

Devin Nunes, a Republican congressman from California, said on Monday that he is suing Twitter, a GOP operative, and unnamed defendants behind parody accounts on the social network, for defamation and other claims, after those accounts insulted him on the platform.

In an appearance on Hannity, Nunes said he was suing Twitter in the first of many lawsuits he plans to file against technology companies for their bias against conservatives.

That appearance came after Fox News reported that the congressman had filed a $250 million lawsuit “in Virginia state court” on Monday and posted a document that lacks a case number and any verification of filing.

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Nunes, who represents the 22nd District in California, said in the document posted by Fox News that Twitter played a willing party to abuse he faced from a number of parody accounts, including one using the Twitter handle @DevinNunesMom.

He also alleged that Twitter shadowbanned his account @devinnunes — a process by which a social network can quietly curb the distribution or reach of a user’s content without outrightly banning them — when he tried to respond to that criticism.

“The shadow-banning was intentional,” Nunes’ document reads, noting that Twitter is “essential” for the meaningful participation in American democracy.

“It was calculated to interfere with and influence the federal election and interfere with Nunes’ ongoing investigation as a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.”

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