A District Court in California ruled that Facebook's conduct in removing a Russia news distribution organization's Facebook account and page did not violate the First Amendment's protection of freedom of expression and that its conduct was immunized from civil suit by US legislation. Facebook had shut down the page following the 2016 United States presidential election on the grounds that it was one of the "inauthentic" accounts that had allegedly sought to inflame social and political tensions in the United States. The Court held that Facebook had not violated the First Amendment as it is neither a public forum nor do its actions amount to state action and that as Facebook is a provider of interactive computer service it had immunity under the Communications Decency Act.