Some Capitol riot suspects have been banned from using the internet while they await trial

• Some Capitol insurrection defendants have been ordered to stay off the internet while awaiting trial.
• Judges have issued bans on the internet or social media in at least five cases, the LA Times reports.
• More than 370 people have been charged in the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

Some Capitol riot suspects have been banned from using the internet while they await trial in their cases, according to court filings.

It's unclear exactly how many defendants have been barred from using the internet, but the Los Angeles Times found at least five cases in which defendants have been banned from using social media or going online.

Judges in the cases cite federal criminal complaints against suspects in their orders, seemingly in an attempt to stop the spread of further misinformation.

Defendants banned from the internet include esthetician Gina Bisignano, from Beverly Hills, California, who prosecutors say in court filings urged rioters to take up weapons and gas masks while at the insurrection. Prosecutors also allege Bisignano ranted about George Soros and made false claims about the legitimacy of the 2021 election online.

Another defendant, who a judge ruled is only allowed to use social media while supervised, is John Sullivan, a defendant from Utah accused of storming the Capitol in tactical gear and threatening police.

Both Bisignano and Sulligan have been charged with a number of counts related to the Capitol riot.

Bisignano's lawyer, Charles Peruto, told the LA Times that his client knows that social media is "what got her jammed in the first place."

Sullivan's lawyer, Steve Kiersh, meanwhile, accused prosecutors of banning Kiersh from trying "to communicate the way the vast majority of Americans communicate," according to court filings cited by the LA Times.

The idea of banning defendants from social media has been discussed in courts before - Ohio's Supreme Court protected a defendant from being banned from social media last year, and the US Supreme Court struck down a North Carolina law banning sex offenders from using social media in 2017.

But the Capitol insurrection was fueled by misinformation, including QAnon conspiracy theories and false right-wing narratives claiming that President Joe Biden falsely won the presidential election.

More than 370 people have been charged in the January 6 Capitol insurrection, in which rioters stormed the Capitol building as Congress members debated the Electoral College votes in the 2020 election.

Five people died in the riot, including a Capitol police officer.