Quinnipiac Student Sues Facebook Over First Amendment Rights

HAMDEN, CT — A Quinnipiac University law student is suing Facebook over claims that the social media company violated his First Amendment rights when it removed posts where he named the whistleblower at the center of impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.

The New Haven Register reports Cameron L. Atkinson, a third-year law student, filed a federal lawsuit this week and cited two posts that were removed by Facebook – one calling the whistleblower a hero and another referring to the whistleblower as a “dirty lying rat.” Atkinson claimed in the lawsuit that he was trying to see if Facebook removed one post over the other. Both were taken down within a few hours.

A third post in which Atkinson wrote about how he had conflicting thoughts about outing the whistleblower was also taken down, according to the Hartford Courant.

A Facebook spokesman told the Courant that it would remove any post naming the whistleblower, which violates the company’s “coordinating harm policy.” Most news organizations have withheld the name of the whistleblower, along with YouTube and Facebook. Twitter, however, is not.

The Register reports Atkinson, who is being represented by Norm Pattis, is seeking punitive damages to hold Facebook accountable.

Read more at the New Haven Register here and the Hartford Courant here.