Data scientist Geoff Golberg has sued Twitter for banning his business relationship after he used insulting language toward a bot.

Golberg, the co-founder of blockchain analytics company Elementus and an academic at the University of Colorado, was banned from Twitter on July 29, 2022, for engaging in "abusive beliefs."

In the lawsuit, Golberg emphasizes that the very being of the inauthentic account violated Twitter's terms of service. He states he was banned for using the words "idiot" and "moron" specifically.

The example was prepared by crypto legal veterans Stephen Palley and Preston Byrne of Anderson Kill. The plaintiff is seeking amercement of between $25,000 and $50,000 and the reactivation of his account — which commanded a following of more than 12,000.

Claims of a contractual human relationship with Twitter

Co-ordinate to the suit, Golberg is suing Twitter for a breach of their contractual agreement.

The researcher asserts that Twitter accounts are not free, arguing: "User data is the currency that all users provide to Twitter for access, and it becomes a valuable asset that Twitter then sells to platform advertisers."

Golberg also spent $38,000 to promote diverse posts on the social media platform over a decade, characterizing his affiliation with Twitter every bit a business organisation relationship.

While the claim acknowledges that Twitter "enjoys broad discretion to grant, deny, modify, or revoke permission to moderate content on or utilise its platform at whatever time," Golber argues that said discretion cannot be exercised arbitrarily:

"That discretion is not unlimited, and under New York law cannot exist exercised arbitrarily and in bad organized religion whatsoever more than a ticket seller could sell a baseball fan a ticket to a baseball game, keep the fan'southward money, then deny the fan entry to the brawl park merely considering the fan happens to root for the visiting squad."

Golberg exposes bot networks on Twitter

Golberg has spent many years analyzing and exposing inauthentic and bot accounts on Twitter. Through his enquiry, he has exposed networks of false accounts promoting the XRP token, accounts associated with an Iranian political organization, and the Billboard Music Awards, amidst others.

In the lawsuit, Golberg states he was "frequently mass reported by nefarious actors seeking to silence his vocalism," and received several death threats sent over the platform.

A malicious thespian has too leaked confidential information relating to his identity on Twitter — known as "doxxing." Golberg asserts the account that doxed him remains active on Twitter to this 24-hour interval.