Republican congressman Devin Nunes loses legal fight with Twitter over imaginary cow

Californian representative losses against cow who called him ‘udderly worthless’

Republican congressman Devin Nunes cannot sue Twitter over accounts alleged to have mocked the politician with parody personas representing a cow and the politician's mother.

A Virginia judge dismissed Mr Nunes's defamation lawsuit on Wednesday because social media companies are not liable for statements made on their platforms.

The Trump loyalist submitted the lawsuit against Twitter in 2019 over two accounts and another user who posted satirical content, which he claimed cost him votes – despite him being re-elected – and defamed him.

The Republican also demanded that Twitter unmask the anonymous accounts, named @DevinNunesMom and @DevinCow, and pay $250m (£167m) in damages.

Twitter said it would not reveal who managed Devin Nunes’ Mom and Devin Nunes’ Cow, who once wrote that “Devin’s boots are full of manure. He’s udderly worthless and it’s pasture time to mooove him to prison.”

Judge John Marshall wrote last week that Mr Nunes “seeks to have the court treat Twitter as the publisher or speaker of the content provided by others based on its allowing or not allowing certain content to be on its Internet platform. The court refuses to do so.”

The Virginia Circuit Court, which cited Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, added that Mr Nunes’s lawsuit was “substantially similar” to previous cases on social media content.

Twitter welcomed the court’s decision in a statement, saying: “Twitter enforces the Twitter Rules impartially for everyone who uses our service around the world, regardless of their background or political affiliation.

“We are constantly improving our efforts to serve the public conversation and will continue to be transparent with the public.”

Mr Nunes suggested on Twitter on Wednesday that he would use an alternative social media platform, and wrote: “Parler is open for business!”

Devin Nunes’ Cow wrote: “I have some good moooos for you. Oh, wait, it’s good for me and not for you.”