Computer repairman suing Twitter for defamation, seeks $500 million

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The former owner of a computer repair shop in Delaware is suing Twitter for defamation, alleging that the platform's choice to moderate a New York Post story that cited him as a source is tantamount to labeling him personally a "hacker."

Twitter's "actions and statements had the specific intent to communicate to the world" that John Paul Mac Isaac "is a hacker," the suit (PDF) alleges, eventually forcing him to shut down his Delaware business. Mac Isaac is seeking $500 million in punitive damages from the suit, as well as whatever "further relief" the court deems appropriate.

The alleged defamation ties to a specific October episode in a fall that was, frankly, full of strange episodes. On October 14, the New York Post ran a story alleging that President-Elect Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, had connected his father with Ukrainian energy firm Burisma in 2014. These allegations were based on emails the Post said it got from Trump attorney and former New York mayor Rudy Giliani, who in turn allegedly obtained them from a laptop that Biden's son Hunter dropped off at Mac Isaac's computer repair shop in 2019.

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