Needless to say, the mocking has been trending:
A US congressman is getting a crash course in the Streisand Effect after filing a lawsuit this week against Twitter and a handful of his harshest critics on the antisocial network.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) seeks a $250m payout from the micro-blogging site, and three tweeters who lampooned him in recent years. He also seeks $350,000 in punitive damages for what his lawyers call “censorship” and “shadow banning” of political conservatives on the site.
Nunes’ complaints almost immediately started trending on Twitter and elsewhere on the web.
While Nunes hopes his legal action will expose what he believes is a secretive campaign within Twitter to silence the voices of Twitter addicts on the political right, the 40-page complaint is also a greatest hits album of people making fun of the SoCal congresscritter.
Devin Nunes just nominated himself for the self-own Hall of Fame.— Tom Tomorrow (@tomtomorrow) March 18, 2019
The lawsuit paperwork – which seeks defamation payouts from San-Francisco-based Twitter, plus former Republican campaign strategist and tweeter Liz Mair and two Twitter accounts dubbed “Devin Nunes’ Mom” (since suspended) and “Devin Nunes’ Cow” (still active as @DevinCow) – at various times spotlights tweets that are, to say the least, not particularly flattering for the congressman.
Of “Devin Nunes’ Mom”, the suit alleges it “falsely stated that Nunes would probably join the Proud Boys, if it weren’t for that unfortunate ‘no masturbating’ rule” and “falsely accused Nunes of being part of the President’s taint team,” as well as “Devin might be a unscrupulous, craven, back-stabbing, charlatan and traitor, but he’s no Ted Cruz,” and “falsely stated that @Devin Nunes is DEFINITELY a feckless c%$#.”
This is the most amazing case of self-ownership since Barbara Streisand sued to remove pictures of her home from the internet. (See the Wiki for “Streisand effect“)