Response to Mike Masnick's Techdirt Article about Richards v. X Corp. 3:25-cv-916 NDTX


article - https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/20/remember-when-maga-thought-a-few-stern-emails-from-the-govt-made-twitter-a-state-actor-about-that/

Response from Lisa Weingarten Richards, counsel for Plaintiff, Thomas Richards

I appreciate your acknowledgment that this case addresses "a legitimate question," and I agree with your statement: “These aren’t just fun law school hypotheticals anymore. They go to the heart of how we balance free speech rights in an era where government officials aren’t just trying to influence social media through stern emails and mean tweets — they’re actually buying, creating, and running the platforms themselves.” I also agree with the point about the hypocrisy (though you don’t use that word) of Elon Musk condemning Biden censorship of leaked photos as being unconstitutional while now doing the same thing

Beyond this, your analysis contains factual errors and dismissive characterizations that I will address as I summarize some details about our important lawsuit for those who may read this comment:

The Unprecedented Government Entanglement Must be Addressed: We brought this suit because unjust censorship and shadowbanning of Tommy Richards must stop. Mr. Richards is the administrator of SpirituallySmart.com, is on X at https://x.com/tlthe5th,  Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SpirituallySmart/, and his bot with his bible teachings can be reached at tlthe5th.ai. One can also interact with a chatbot to learn more about the lawsuit at lwrbot.ai. The lawsuit itself is available at https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69885455/richards-v-x-corp/

This case involves far more than someone with a government title - it's about systematic purchasing of governmental power and deep government involvement which transcends this:

  • Financial Investment : Musk invested $300 million to elect Trump, immediately followed by creation of a personalized government department (DOGE) bearing Musk's own branding
  • Manipulation of Visibility on X : Computational analysis documented that after Musk's July 2024 Trump endorsement, X's algorithms were manipulated to boost Republican content while suppressing Democratic posts
  • Musk Boosts and Deboosts Tweets for his own gain: Twitter engineers were told to boost Elon Musk's tweets after Joe Biden's Super Bowl post was more popular https://www.techspot.com/news/97614-twitter-engineers-told-boost-elon-musk-tweets-after.html
  • Massive Government Contracts : Musk's companies hold over $15.4 billion in federal contracts, creating permanent financial entanglement
  • Intelligence Access : Musk maintains Top Secret/SCI clearance with unprecedented agency access
  • March-April 2025 Intelligence Tour : Within one month, Musk conducted high-profile visits to Pentagon (80 minutes with Defense Secretary Hegseth), NSA, and CIA (personally hosted by Director Ratcliffe). He also indicated he had been there before and offered Hegseth to Musk was overheard telling Defense Secretary Hegseth, "If there's anything I can do to be helpful, I'd like to see you" -- explicitly establishing back-channel communications that will continue to operate regardless of formal title. (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hegseth-meeting-elon-musk-innovation-efficiencies/;https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4131400/defense-secretary-hosts-elon-musk-at-pentagon/)
  • Ongoing Authority : Despite officially leaving DOGE, Musk committed to work for Trump "a day or two per week" for the remainder of Trump's term. https://fortune.com/article/elon-musk-special-government-employee-doge-trump-countdown/
  • Recent Defense Contracts : SpaceX is projected to receive billions more in new government contracts even amidst DOGE cuts. (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/23/us/politics/spacex-contracts-musk-doge-trump.html); https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-inking-multibillion-dollar-pentagon-deal-amid-doge-cutsreport-2055663)

Your Section 230 Analysis Is Incorrect: You claim I "conflated" 230(c)(1) and (c)(2) - I did not. Section 230(c)(1) protects platforms from being treated as publishers of third-party content. Section 230(c)(2)(A) provides separate immunity for actions "voluntarily taken in good faith" to restrict content. My argument: X's systematic deception about shadowbanning fails the "good faith" requirement when X's FAQs promise followers will see users' posts, but only 1-2% of Richards’ followers actually do. Thus they are not immune from suit under Section 230. (“What does it mean to follow someone on X? Following someone means you've chosen to subscribe to their X updates. When you follow someone, every time they post a new message, it will appear on your X Home timeline.” From https://help.x.com/en/resources/new-user-faq)

The Local Counsel "Rules Violation" Never Happened: Your article states I "seem to violate the rules" - actually, Local Rule 83.10 explicitly permits motions to proceed without local counsel, which I filed  April 13 (Doc. 3-1) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69885455/3/1/richards-v-x-corp/, the same day I filed Mr. Richards' complaint.[i]  

Judge Starr's May 14 order offered appearing without local counsel as an option,( https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69885455/30/richards-v-x-corp/)  then denied my April 13 motion without explanation the next day https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69885455/32/richards-v-x-corp/ ) . In actuality, it seems you never read the local rules nor the documents in the docket. One wonders why would you create arguments against someone against what Musk is doing, which you yourself state is problematic. And yet you mention Rubenfeld and RFK Jr. arguing against similar government involvement under a weaker set of facts.

Richards’ case is very strong, and discovery will show more about the ongoing deceptive shadowbanning against his account and others while Musk and his team lie and say “You are the media” (https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1929991493835726883; https://x.com/X/status/1855795018939740478; https://x.com/lindayaX/status/1874190054660473035)

Judge Starr's Documented Judicial Misconduct: This Trump-appointed judge has systematically evaded constitutional adjudication through:

"Conspiracy Theories" - Address the Substance: You resort to mockery with "shadowy conspiracy theories" and "crayon on bulletin boards." The term "conspiracy theory" was weaponized by the CIA to silence JFK assassination questions - now declassified records vindicate those "theorists." If my allegations are wrong, engage the substance:

The Damages Question: You question why my client has only around 4,000 followers after decades of ministry and claim the damages stated are excessive. That's precisely the point - systematic shadowbanning has suppressed his audience growth. A defendant cannot avoid damages by pointing to conditions they themselves created through censorship. (https://x.com/tlthe5th/status/1930455800465523184; https://spirituallysmart.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-economic-impact-of-shadowbanning.html)

Your Potential Bias: Your connections to Bluesky -- being on the Board of Directors -- which while public on LinkedIn is not mentioned in the article may explain your defense of shadowbanning practices and hostility toward this case challenging Big Tech censorship.

Why Haven't Others Challenged This Unprecedented Power? A Texas attorney explicitly told me he feared Musk's retaliation and unlimited resources - documented in court filings. When someone can spend $300 million to purchase governmental authority while controlling major communication platforms, that chilling effect demonstrates the constitutional crisis.

The complete docket: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69885455/richards-v-x-corp/

[i] Complaint will be amended with additional arguments as it was initially submitted with some haste to get the emergency Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction heard as quickly as possible.



Posted By Tommy Richards at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Featured Post

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is FAKE. It's not the "unforgivable sin"

All δόξα (doxa - glory) to Ιησούς Χριστός (Iēsous Christos - Jesus THE Christ) and Theos Patēr (Θεός Πατήρ - God the Father), ὁ λόγος (ho ...