{"id":692601,"date":"2026-10-25T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=692601"},"modified":"2026-10-25T13:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T13:30:00","slug":"appeals-court-throws-out-alex-berensons-case-against-pfizer-executives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=692601","title":{"rendered":"Appeals Court Throws Out Alex Berenson’s Case Against Pfizer Executives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Appeals Court Throws Out Alex Berenson’s Case Against Pfizer Executives<\/span><\/p>\n

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Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times<\/a>,<\/em><\/p>\n

A federal appeals court has thrown out a lawsuit from independent journalist Alex Berenson<\/strong> accusing Pfizer executives of pressuring Twitter to censor him because of his comments opposing COVID-19 vaccines.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In a file image from video, Alex Berenson speaks during an interview with The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A unanimous panel of U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit judges on Oct. 20 determined<\/a> that Twitter’s terms of service were not altered by a subsequent “five strikes” policy<\/strong> and promises made to Berenson that his posts on COVID-19 vaccines would not lead to strikes.<\/p>\n

The terms said that Twitter may suspend or terminate an account “at any time for any or no reason,” including for violations of Twitter rules and policies.<\/p>\n

“The five-strike policy is clearly among the ‘Rules and Policies’ that the Terms of Service contemplates,” the circuit judges said in the decision.<\/p>\n

“However, the provision makes clear that suspension or termination of an account is not limited to violations of that policy; rather, as noted above, such suspension or termination could be ‘at any time for any or no reason.’<\/p>\n

“Thus, the five-strike policy is not wholly incompatible or inconsistent with the Terms of Service and did not modify it.<\/strong>“<\/p>\n

Twitter executive Brandon Borrman’s comments to Berenson before he was banned from Twitter – including that “the points you’re raising should not be an issue at all” – are too vague to modify the terms of service, the panel also said.<\/p>\n

The appeals court judges also agreed with other conclusions from U.S. District Judge Jessica Clarke, a New York-based judge who wrote in a 2025 decision that Berenson “has not plausibly alleged the existence of a cognizable protected class, or any discriminatory animus” from the Pfizer executives.<\/p>\n

Berenson had said he was part of a class of people who declined to take the COVID-19 vaccine, and that the executives showed animus against them.<\/p>\n

Government defendants previously conceded<\/a> that the government violated Berenson’s First Amendment rights<\/strong> “by exerting substantial coercive pressure on social media companies such as Twitter to suppress disfavored speech.”<\/p>\n

Berenson told The Epoch Times via email on Thursday that he was “disappointed the judges did not follow the lead of the federal judge in California who found I had presented evidence of a valid and enforceable contract with Twitter.”<\/p>\n

He added he was “even more disappointed they didn’t recognize the discrimination that I, and other Covid unvaccinated people, faced in 2021.”<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge William Alsup, based in California, said in a separate case that Berenson brought against Twitter that the five-strike policy and the assurances Borrman gave to Berenson modified the contract between Twitter and Berenson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

That finding led<\/a> to a settlement between Berenson and the social media company, which is now known as X.<\/p>\n

Berenson said that he and his legal team “are considering all options.”<\/p>\n

A lawyer representing the executives did not return a request for comment by publication time.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSun, 10\/25\/2026 – 09:30<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Appeals Court Throws Out Alex Berenson’s Case Against Pfizer Executives Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times, A federal appeals court has thrown out a lawsuit from independent journalist Alex Berenson accusing Pfizer executives of pressuring Twitter to censor him because of his comments opposing COVID-19 vaccines. In a file image from video, Alex… Continue reading Appeals Court Throws Out Alex Berenson’s Case Against Pfizer Executives<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-692601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-border-security","category-immigration","category-immigration-reform","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=692601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692601\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=692601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=692601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=692601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}