RFK JR. SUES MARK ZUCKERBERG, META FOR ELECTION INTERFERENCE AND CENSORSHIP
The far-right American Independent Party and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is on the California ballot, sued tech giant Meta on Monday. The lawsuit accuses the company and its founder Mark Zuckerberg of censorship and election interference.
Lawyers on behalf of Kennedy and his super PAC American Values 2024 filed the federal lawsuit Monday in the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division. The lawsuit alleges that Meta, which covers Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Messenger, intentionally blocked users from watching and sharing a 30-minute documentary called "Who is Bobby Kennedy?" It was published on May 3 by American Values 2024. According to the lawsuit, Meta began "preventing users on its platforms from watching, sharing, and even sending links."
"Facebook and Instagram... sent messages to users threatening to suspend or otherwise punish their accounts if they tried to watch, share, or even post a link to the movie," the lawsuit alleges.
Meta told the New York Times on May 5 that users were unable to watch and share the movie because "it was blocked in error and fixed within hours." But Kennedy's campaign argued that this was deliberate censorship.
His running mate, Bay Area native and tech entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan, called Zuckerberg a "coward" on X, formerly known as Twitter. "How will people learn that they have a valid 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 the main channels of communication with the American people? " Super PAC co-founder Tony Lyons said Monday. Meta did not respond to The Sacramento Bee's request for comment.
