An overseas Chinese democracy activist has sued the social media platform X after it failed to restore his account after repeated representations over the past nearly four years, reported independent.co.uk Jan 7. The platform, owned by Elon Musk, the world’s richest person who reportedly owes anywhere from 60 to 70% of his net worth to his businesses in China, “permanently suspended” his account “without warning, notice or explanation,” on Feb 15, 2023, US-based pro-democracy activist Wilson Lei Chen, also known as Chen Pokong, has alleged in his $2 million plus lawsuit.
Chen’s suit, filed at the Manhattan federal court on Jan 5, describes him as “a renowned author, columnist, political commentator, [and] dissident.” Chen is representing himself in the lawsuit.
Imprisoned in the early 1990s for “counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement,” after which he fled to the United States, Chen has alleged that X unilaterally shuttered his account based on disinformation circulated by Beijing.
