Article by Eric Mack in NewsMax
Alan Dershowitz to Newsmax: Big Tech Lawsuit to 'Frame the Law' for 21st Century
Critics of former President Donald Trump's class-action lawsuit against Big Tech censorship are not just "wrong" about the merits of the case, but they are dangerously dismissive of a case that will dictate legal precedent for generations to come regardless of whether it is even heard, according to legal expert Alan Dershowitz to Newsmax.
"All bets are off; this is a very important case; we don't know how it will be decided," Dershowitz told "Saturday Report." "But whatever way it is decided, it will frame the law for the rest of the 21st century in the age of high tech. That's why it's so important."
Dershowitz, author of "Case Against the New Censorship: Protecting Free Speech from Big Tech, Progressives, and Universities," noted conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas sees mainstream social media entities in the modern age as "common carriers, and they should be subject to the rules of common carriers."
"Look, opponents of Trump, who will oppose everything he does, think there's nothing to this case, and they've attacked me, and they've attacked him, and they've attacked everybody," Dershowitz added to host Carl Higbie. "And they say there's nothing to it and it's not an important case.
"No, they're wrong. It is an important case. But they're right it's an unpredictable case."
The legal construct of Section 230 might be ultimately determined by just whether the Supreme Court hears this case, according to Dershowitz, because if the case is dismissed it will ostensibly harden Section 230 as precedent for website publishers moving forward, granting them civil lawsuit immunity.
Dershowitz also took pointed opposition to fellow Harvard Law School professor emeritus Laurence Tribe, who has made it clear he opposes everything Trump stands behind, while also criticizing Dershowitz's own legal positions as matters of politics. Notably, they are both liberals, but with vastly divergent opinions on constitutional law.
Having Tribe on your side is not a good argument for the merits of a case, according to Dershowitz.
"That's all you need is to get Tribe on your side," Dershowitz concluded. "If you're against Trump, he's on your side. If you're doing something that in any way favors Trump, he calls you crazy and bonkers and all of those name calling, which is inappropriate for a professor."
