Devin Nunes Can’t Sue Twitter Over Cow and Mom Parodies, Judge Says

A Virginia judge said this week that Representative Devin Nunes could not sue Twitter over posts by two parody accounts and a Republican strategist, ruling that a federal communications law protects the social media company from being held liable for the posts.

Mr. Nunes, a California Republican, had sought $250 million in the suit filed last year against Twitter, the strategist and the owners of the accounts over statements he said were defamatory. One account pretended to be Mr. Nunes’s mother; the other pretended to be a cow.

But on Wednesday, Judge John Marshall of the Henrico County Circuit Court in Virginia said Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law that says social media companies are not liable for content posted on their platforms, provides Twitter immunity in the suit.

The ruling was a blow to conservatives who have criticized Section 230 and accused Twitter of bias against them, something Twitter and other social media companies have repeatedly denied. Mr. Nunes had argued in the suit that Twitter is biased against conservatives, “while amplifying the voices of his Democratic detractors.”