The independent journalist Alex Berenson has filed a federal lawsuit against Twitter challenging his ban from the service over a tweet questioning the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.
The lawsuit filed on Monday in US District Court for Northern California seeks Berenson's reinstatement to Twitter and unspecified monetary damages over his permanent ban in August.
A spokesperson for San Francisco-based Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com.
Berenson, a former New York Times reporter and prominent skeptic of many pandemic policies, was banned from Twitter over a tweet in which he stated that COVID vaccines do not prevent infection or transmission of the virus.
The lawsuit filed on Monday in US District Court for Northern California seeks Berenson's reinstatement to Twitter and unspecified monetary damages over his permanent ban
Berenson was banned from Twitter over this tweet, according to his lawsuit
'Mr. Berenson’s claim that the COVID-19 vaccines do not “stop infection” or “transmission” of COVID-19 was true at the time and is true now,' his attorneys said in the complaint.
Since his ban, Berenson has gone on to author the bestseller Pandemia
'It is undisputed that vaccinated persons can contract and spread COVID-19,' the lawsuit adds, noting that Dr. Anthony Fauci himself has stated in published interviews that vaccinated people can be infected.
However, the crux of the lawsuit does not rest on whether Berenson's criticism of vaccines was objectively true or not.
The detailed 70-page complaint alleges that Twitter is legally a 'common carrier,' similar to a railroad or a telegram, which is required under California and federal law to provide service to all comers.
'Twitter’s role in public debate in the twenty-first century resembles that of the telegraph in the nineteenth,' the lawsuit argues.
Berenson's attorneys also argue that he has 'a uniquely viable claim that Twitter acted on behalf of the federal government in censoring and barring him from to its platform.'
The complaint argues that his Twitter ban came just days after high officials including President Joe Biden called for a crackdown on pandemic misinformation on social media, and that the company was responding to government pressure in banning him.
Pictured: a screenshot of Berenson's suspended Twitter account. The social media platform permanently banned the former New York Times journalist for his tweets
The suit claims violation of the First Amendment, false advertising, and violation of California common carrier law, among other complaints.
Since his ban from Twitter, Berenson has been publishing his opinion and reporting on the platform Substack, and has released a book titled Pandemia, which reached the bestsellers list.
In the tweet that earned him his ban, Berenson wrote: 'It doesn't stop infection. Or transmission. Don’t think of it as a vaccine.'
'Think of it – at best – as a therapeutic with a limited window of efficacy and terrible side effect profile that must be dosed IN ADVANCE OF ILLNESS,' he added.
Berenson began his anti-mask and vaccine mandate crusade last year, when an Op-Ed he penned for the Wall Street Journal claimed the pandemic had caused 'a new age of censorship and suppression.'
Berenson began reporting on the pharmaceutical industry and financial crime for the New York Times in 1999, before leaving the newspaper in 2010
'Information has never been more plentiful or easier to distribute. Yet we are sliding into a new age of censorship and suppression, encouraged by technology giants and traditional media companies,' Berenson wrote.
'As someone who’s been falsely characterized as a coronavirus ‘denier,' he wrote at the time. 'I have seen this crisis firsthand.'
Berenson began reporting on the pharmaceutical industry and financial crime for the New York Times in 1999, before leaving the newspaper in 2010 to pursue a career as a full-time author and novelist.
The Yale-educated writer was dubbed 'the pandemic's wrongest man' by The Atlantic over his predictions about the virus.
He had originally predicted that the US would not surpass 500,000 deaths due to COVID-19. The country has now exceeded 800,000 deaths.
Berenson had previously enjoyed a large social media following, with over 340,000 followers prior to his permanent Twitter ban.
In announcing his lawsuit on Substack, he wrote: 'Remember, folks - Don’t take the law into your own hands, you take ‘em to court!'
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