Former president Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he is suing Twitter, Facebook, Google, and their CEOs Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sundar Pichai, alleging that the social media juggernauts violated Trump’s First Amendment rights when they all banned him from their services. The 45th president has been barred from using Twitter, Facebook, and Google’s Youtube for months now after a mass of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6th.

The suits against these tech giants are requesting that Trump be reinstated on all platforms. Currently, his only chance at returning to any of these sites lies with Facebook, which recently said Trump was banned until at least January 2023, although he may be allowed to return after that. 

The suits also demand that the court decide section 230 of the Communications Decency Act be ruled unconstitutional. Trump has long railed against section 230, which prohibits technology companies from being held liable by what users on their platforms post. 

“We’re not looking to settle,” Trump told reporters at a press conference in front of his gold club in Bedminster, New Jersey. “We don’t know what’s going to happen but we’re not looking to settle,”

Already there are many analysts saying the lawsuits will likely not be held up in a court of law. The claim that Trump’s First Amendment rights were violated will have a hard time passing muster with a judge because Facebook, Twitter, and Google are all private entities and not government institutions, therefore they are free to make choices related to speech that don’t violate constitutional rights. Still, it is one of Trump’s largest moves against Big Tech, a group he has been fighting since before leaving office. Following his ban from the platforms, Trump’s opinion on the companies only lowered and his drive against them increased. 

Immediately after announcing the lawsuits, Trump’s political action committees began sending out fundraising emails asking for money to help fund the lawsuits. 

Seven of the biggest technology companies in the world are urging the federal government to hold them accountable about climate change. 

Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google parent company Alphabet, and more sent a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler on Friday, asking that the SEC require businesses to regularly reveal issues related to climate change to shareholders and the public. 

The coalition’s letter stated that the companies “believe that climate disclosures are critical to ensure that companies follow through on stated climate commitments and to track collective progress towards addressing global warming and building a prosperous, resilient zero-carbon economy.” It marks one of the most high-profile attempts by big tech to spur more self-responsibility and involvement from their sector and follows other instances of the industry being vocal about the need to address climate change.

Perhaps the biggest request in the letter is regarding greenhouse gases. The companies claim that the SEC should require businesses to report on these gas emissions in an annual report that provides transparency to anyone involved in the company and any potential customers as well. 

Additionally, the group of businesses stated that they have purchased 21 gigawatts of clean energy in their quest for a fully renewable economy. 

The letter doesn’t come as a major surprise, since many major tech companies have long been adamant about fighting climate change. However, even the most vocal companies have been criticized for their lack of tangible action. Recently, some of these companies – such as Amazon – have put forth plans to show how serious they are about tackling the pressing issue. Jeff Bezos launched the “Climate Pledge” in September 2019, which included plans for Amazon to use 80% renewable energy by 2024 before transitioning to complete zero emissions by the year 2030. 

A scathing Senate hearing on Wednesday once again put Apple and Google in the hot seat for alleged antitrust law violations. Apple’s App Store practices and policies took center-stage for the majority of the hearing, with app-makers like Spotify, Tile, and Match claiming that both Apple and Google “hold data hostage” and charge high commissions from competitors, stifling their ability to stay afloat.

The hearing followed the release of Apple’s new item-tracker product AirTag, a direct competitor with the 9-year-old company Tile, by just one day. Tile made the case that Apple gives the AirTag an unfair advantage by not allowing Tile devices to use the same advanced, ultra-wideband frequencies to communicate with iPhones that AirTag uses.

Others, like Jared Sine of Match Group, said that Apple’s crippling 30 percent App Store commissions now accounted for the company’s largest single expense at more than $500 million per year. Apple defended its fees by saying that the costs covered security for both users and app-makers in an ever-expanding online marketplace. Apple chief compliance officer Kyle Andeer also cited that 84 percent of the App Store’s 1.7 million app-makers do not pay any commission fees.

Numerous companies have also complained about Apple’s stranglehold on their payment systems. Though not present at the Wednesday hearing, Tim Sweeney of Epic Games recently shined a light on Apple’s strict App Store payment system policies when he offered Fortnight players a 20 percent discount when they purchased in-game credits directly through Epic. Fortnight was swiftly removed from both the App Store and Google Play store for policy violation; Epic is in private talks with Google to resolve the issue, however they are facing Apple in court in May. Read more about the Epic trial here.

Horacio Gutierrez, Spotify’s chief legal officer, also weighed in on Apple’s restrictive payment policies.

“We couldn’t even email our users to tell them about a way to upgrade that didn’t involve paying through Apple,” Gutierrez said.

Jared Sine argued that Apple and Google “have essentially taken the internet and moved it into the app stores… They’ve set up their gateways, they’ve set up their toll booths; you’ve got to pay the toll if you’re a digital good and service.”

“They give everybody else access onto the freeway, and what we’re saying is, why isn’t the freeway the same for everyone?”