Google’s legal battle to keep Donald Trump banned from the company’s YouTube video-sharing platform has been transferred from Florida to a federal court in California over objections by the former president.
The ruling Wednesday by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore in Miami means Trump’s lawsuit seeking a return to the social-media platform will be moved to the Northern District of California, near the headquarters of Google owner Alphabet Inc. Moore agreed with YouTube that its terms of service allow the company to choose the forum for lawsuits.
Moore rejected Trump’s claim that the case should stay in Florida because it relates to a “localized controversy” in the state where he lives. Trump sued YouTube, along with Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc., for deleting or freezing his accounts after his supporters rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump used the platforms to spread false claims that the 2020 presidential election he lost had been rigged.
“The Court finds that this case does not present a localized controversy that favors keeping this litigation in the Southern District of Florida,” the judge wrote. “To the contrary, this case involves issues that are national in scope.”
Trump’s lawyer, Matthew L. Baldwin, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Trump last week asked the judge to force Twitter to reinstate his account while that case proceeds. Twitter has also moved to transfer Trump’s lawsuit against it to California.
