U.S. free-speech group sues Trump for blocking Twitter users

A handful of Twitter users, backed by the Knight First Amendment
Institute at Columbia University, sued President Donald Trump on
Tuesday, claiming their constitutional rights are being violated
because the president has blocked them from his @realDonaldTrump
handle.

The suit claims that Trump’s Twitter feed is a public forum and
an official voice of the president. Excluding people from reading
or replying to his tweets—especially because they tweeted critical
comments—amounts to a First Amendment breach, according to the
lawsuit.

“The @realDonaldTrump account is a kind of digital town hall in
which the president and his aides use the tweet function to
communicate news and information to the public, and members of the
public use the reply function to respond to the president and his
aides and exchange views with one another,” according to the
lawsuit (PDF) filed in New York federal
court.

The suit, which adopts a unique constitutional theory about
social media rights, comes a month after the Knight First Amendment
Institute threatened to sue Trump unless the president unblocked
its clients from what it called a “designated public forum.” Being
blocked from Trump’s Twitter feed, they said, was illegal and akin
to a mayor ejecting critics from city hall meetings.

Trump takes to Twitter to announce and denounce everything from
North Korea missile launches to the latest domestic and foreign
policy issues. The president announced the nomination of
Christopher Wray to become FBI director on Twitter, and he even
told his Twitter followers that he did not tape meetings with
then-FBI Director James Comey. And just this weekend, the president
sparked controversy when he tweeted that he wanted the US and
Russia to create a joint “cyber security unit.”

To date, Trump has amassed 33.7 million Twitter followers, up
roughly two million from a month ago.

The new lawsuit also names White House Press Secretary Sean
Spicer and Daniel Scavino, the White House director of social
media.

“Defendants’ viewpoint-based blocking of the Individual
Plaintiffs from the @realDonaldTrump account infringes the
Individual Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights. It imposes an
unconstitutional restriction on their participation in a designated
public forum,” the suit says. “It imposes an unconstitutional
restriction on their right to access statements that Defendants are
otherwise making available to the public at large. It also imposes
an unconstitutional restriction on their right to petition the
government for redress of grievances.”

The Knight First Amendment Institute is also a named plaintiff.
Although it has not been blocked by Trump, the organization claims
that it has a constitutional right to read the views of those who
have been blocked.

“Defendants’ viewpoint-based blocking of the Individual
Plaintiffs violates the Knight Institute’s First Amendment rights
by distorting the expressive forum in which the Knight Institute
and other non-blocked users participate,” the suit alleges.

The suit asks that a federal judge declare it unconstitutional
to block people on Trump’s feed. The lawsuit also demands that
Trump be barred from blocking people on his Twitter feed.

Reuters

A handful of Twitter users, backed by the Knight First Amendment
Institute at Columbia University, sued President Donald Trump on
Tuesday, claiming their constitutional rights are being violated
because the president has blocked them from his @realDonaldTrump
handle.

The suit claims that Trump’s Twitter feed is a public forum and
an official voice of the president. Excluding people from reading
or replying to his tweets—especially because they tweeted critical
comments—amounts to a First Amendment breach, according to the
lawsuit.

“The @realDonaldTrump account is a kind of digital town hall in
which the president and his aides use the tweet function to
communicate news and information to the public, and members of the
public use the reply function to respond to the president and his
aides and exchange views with one another,” according to the
lawsuit (PDF) filed in New York federal
court.

The suit, which adopts a unique constitutional theory about
social media rights, comes a month after the Knight First Amendment
Institute threatened to sue Trump unless the president unblocked
its clients from what it called a “designated public forum.” Being
blocked from Trump’s Twitter feed, they said, was illegal and akin
to a mayor ejecting critics from city hall meetings.

Trump takes to Twitter to announce and denounce everything from
North Korea missile launches to the latest domestic and foreign
policy issues. The president announced the nomination of
Christopher Wray to become FBI director on Twitter, and he even
told his Twitter followers that he did not tape meetings with
then-FBI Director James Comey. And just this weekend, the president
sparked controversy when he tweeted that he wanted the US and
Russia to create a joint “cyber security unit.”

To date, Trump has amassed 33.7 million Twitter followers, up
roughly two million from a month ago.

The new lawsuit also names White House Press Secretary Sean
Spicer and Daniel Scavino, the White House director of social
media.

“Defendants’ viewpoint-based blocking of the Individual
Plaintiffs from the @realDonaldTrump account infringes the
Individual Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights. It imposes an
unconstitutional restriction on their participation in a designated
public forum,” the suit says. “It imposes an unconstitutional
restriction on their right to access statements that Defendants are
otherwise making available to the public at large. It also imposes
an unconstitutional restriction on their right to petition the
government for redress of grievances.”

The Knight First Amendment Institute is also a named plaintiff.
Although it has not been blocked by Trump, the organization claims
that it has a constitutional right to read the views of those who
have been blocked.

“Defendants’ viewpoint-based blocking of the Individual
Plaintiffs violates the Knight Institute’s First Amendment rights
by distorting the expressive forum in which the Knight Institute
and other non-blocked users participate,” the suit alleges.

The suit asks that a federal judge declare it unconstitutional
to block people on Trump’s feed. The lawsuit also demands that
Trump be barred from blocking people on his Twitter feed.

Reuters