On Aug. 28, the company permanently banned me for a tweet about mRNA Covid vaccines that began: “It doesn’t stop infection. Or transmission.” Today no one disputes the truth of that statement, but Twitter claimed the tweet was my “fifth strike” under its Covid “misinformation” policy.

In December I sued Twitter. Because of the protections that Section 230 gives social-media companies, most observers predicted the suit would be dismissed. But Judge Alsup held that I could proceed with my claim for breach of contract. Twitter’s “actions plausibly qualify as a clear and unambiguous promise that Twitter would correctly apply its COVID-19 misinformation policy,” he wrote.

The ruling includes a schedule for a first round of discovery. Along with allowing me to depose two Twitter executives under oath, he ordered that by June 20 Twitter must produce all documents in its possession about me, “including but not limited to nonparty complaints or inquiries about plaintiff and/or including possible or actual termination of his account or a strike against his account or a labeling of any of his posts.” That order clearly includes Twitter’s communications with the government, allowing me to understand how and why the company broke its own policies and promises to me.