Kelly Hayes
Congressional candidate Anna Paulina Luna has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission over alleged inaction on a complaint she filed back in October against Twitter for failing to verify her account.
Luna, who announced Monday she will be running again in 2022, filed the lawsuit in response to a complaint she filed more than 120 days ago, when she was running against U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist. News of the lawsuit was first reported by Fox News.
The lawsuit alleges the FEC has neglected to act on the complaint and asks the court to force action.
The initial complaint alleges that for months Luna had been trying to get Twitter to verify her account — a process that affords high-profile users the famed checkmark badge indicating they are a person of some particular public prominence.
But, the social media platform has yet to adorn the candidate with the blue check, despite her claim that she met all of the social media platform’s requirements.
Luna claims in her complaint to the FEC that Twitter “deliberately refused” to verify her account and by doing so, it denied her “something of value provided for free to her opponent.” Luna said previously that Twitter blocked her from receiving the verification badge because it does not agree with her campaign platform.
When asked about the change in Twitter policy, Twitter spokesperson Nick Pacilio said, according to the complaint, “a significant factor in expanding verification to these races was to ensure a level playing field.”
The case will also likely continue to test the legal waters of Big Tech — an issue central to conservatives, who argue they have been disproportionately targeted with bans, censorship, shadow bans and other restrictions.
The state House and Senate approved a Republican-sponsored bill (SB 7072) this past Legislative Session to crack down on “censorship” by social media companies. That legislation would require social media companies to post their terms of service and apply them equally.
Gov. Ron DeSantis named the proposal a priority ahead of the 2021 Legislative Session after Twitter and other prominent social media companies removed then-President Donald Trump.
And, earlier Wednesday, the Facebook Oversight Committee voted to uphold its ban on Trump from the platform.
