Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter

[ElNono]

Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter

President Donald Trump can’t block critics from following his Twitter account, a federal judge ruled in a decision that opens his favorite communication forum to uncensored commentary from political opponents.

In a 75-page ruling that rejects Trump’s argument that he has a First Amendment right to pick with whom he associates and not to engage with others, a Manhattan federal judge said the section of his personal account with the reply button is a public forum. Blocking users on the basis of political speech is a violation of their free-speech rights, the court said.

“This is a groundbreaking decision,” said Clay Calvert, a First Amendment expert who teaches at University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. “It establishes that social media accounts operated by a government official -- even the president of the United States -- constitutes a public forum."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-23/trump-told-by-judge-not-to-block-users-from-his-twitter-feed

[ElNono]

Appeal likely incoming

[Nathan89]

Sounds absurd to me tbh

[Pavlov]

Now Dennison will demand to be a snowflake in court.

[Aztecfan03]

Sounds absurd to me tbh

It is. And if it is held up, it won't be implemented evenly.

[pgardn]

Sounds absurd to me tbh


He is using it as a public forum.
Its a platform for his getting his public messages out in a democracy and in addition, retweeting responses and responding to tweets he likes.

Big baby can’t handle the press or any communication that takes time and thoughtfulness.
He wants to remain a private citizen as head of our country, tough luck. Tax returns, Mueller, he can’t handle this part of the job. He is OUR president. He should be heavily scrutinized, the right will pay dearly for the precedents he has set quite possibly. Hopefully, people will understand after his ass is gone that government officials should be scrutinized heavily. Much more so than private citizens.

WELCOME TO DEMOCRACY

fn Putin lapper...

[RandomGuy]

Sounds absurd to me tbh

Trump has always been absurd. You are just finding this out?

[ducks]

so on twitter can people call him racial names and hate speech and he can not block them?

[ducks]

why were other presidents allowed to block people?

[boutons_deux]

He is using it as a public forum.
Its a platform for his getting his public messages out in a democracy and in addition, retweeting responses and responding to tweets he likes.

Big baby can’t handle the press or any communication that takes time and thoughtfulness.
He wants to remain a private citizen as head of our country, tough luck. Tax returns, Mueller, he can’t handle this part of the job. He is OUR president. He should be heavily scrutinized, the right will pay dearly for the precedents he has set quite possibly. Hopefully, people will understand after his ass is gone that government officials should be scrutinized heavily. Much more so than private citizens.

WELCOME TO DEMOCRACY

fn Putin lapper...

Trash has even said it's his semi-official Presidential channel to speak to America unfiltered.

[Pavlov]

so on twitter can people call him racial names and hate speech and he can not block them?Are they going to call him a honky?


why were other presidents allowed to block people?Because no one successfully brought a lawsuit.

[Mikeanaro]

Yes, because even if he is not blocking people Im pretty sure he is reading the 20k replies on each tweet he makes...
Public forums... liberal loons.

[Spurminator]

Twitter makes it very easy for people, especially those with verified accounts, to avoid seeing messages from people you don't care to hear from. You don't even need to block them to ignore them. This is just Trump's fragile ego and petty spitefulness shining through (along with that of his Twitter team).

[Pavlov]

Yes, because even if he is not blocking people Im pretty sure he is reading the 20k replies on each tweet he makes...
Public forums... liberal loons.So why does he care so much about it he has to appeal?

[hater]

Yes, because even if he is not blocking people Im pretty sure he is reading the 20k replies on each tweet he makes...
Public forums... liberal loons.

Agree

Not sure why this is even threadworthy as Im sure Donnie reads zero replies

[Pavlov]

Agree

Not sure why this is even threadworthy as Im sure Donnie reads zero repliesHe'll read them if Fox and Friends broadcasts them.

And the day Rosie O'Donnell gets unblocked, they will definitely broadcast them.

[monosylab1k]

Sounds absurd to me tbh

Agreed, it’s completely fucking absurd to have a President tweeting so much

[ducks]

Agreed, it’s completely fucking absurd to have a President tweeting so much

why do you think it takes hours to tweet?

why is it bad to tweet?

[Pavlov]

why do you think it takes hours to tweet?

why is it bad to tweet?It takes him hours to watch cable news shows to tell him what to tweet.

[Blake]

So why does he care so much about it he has to appeal?

Or block people to begin with

[Pavlov]

Or block people to begin withWell he blocks people because he's a snowflake.

Fighting and appealing the case is really caring about being able to be a snowflake.

[Blake]

Yes, because even if he is not blocking people Im pretty sure he is reading the 20k replies on each tweet he makes...
Public forums... liberal loons.

He's read enough of them to angry block them.

Including a cancer survivor

[Trill Clinton]

Trump doesn't do shit alllllll day but lie on his stomach and tweet or play golf. This ruling is driving him crazy.

[ElNono]

Agree

Not sure why this is even threadworthy as Im sure Donnie reads zero replies

Well, apparently he blocked people, that's why there's a lawsuit which he currently lost.

[Chris]

Sounds like a silly ruling from a disillusioned judge. OTOH it could set a precedent for the release of the shadow constraints on Conservative voices utilizing Twitter.

[Spurtacular]

Free speech means forcing people to listen?

:lol Snowflakes

[ElNono]

It's really not that complicated, tbh.

Government officials represent the government, this is a key point that somehow escapes some people.

It would be disingenuous to claim that speaking in public forums, especially about government policies and matters, is not being done in an official capacity.

As such, unilaterally blocking dissenting political views in the same public forum is akin to government censorship.

[Spurtacular]

It's really not that complicated, tbh.

Government officials represent the government, this is a key point that somehow escapes some people.

It would be disingenuous to claim that speaking in public forums, especially about government policies and matters, is not being done in an official capacity.

As such, unilaterally blocking dissenting political views in the same public forum is akin to government censorship.

So, is anyone blocking these tweeters from tweeting? Also, it's not a public forum, it's a privately owned enterprise, right?

[Chris]

It was cool when Obama blocked someone though.

[ducks]

It takes him hours to watch cable news shows to tell him what to tweet.

Link
Back up your claim

[ElNono]

So, is anyone blocking these tweeters from tweeting? Also, it's not a public forum, it's a privately owned enterprise, right?

Twitter might be a private company, but IMO, it's difficult to say DJT's twitter account is not a public forum, considering it's publicly accessible even without a Twitter account (and also taking into account Twitter allows to make accounts non-public, thus the decision to make it public is entirely his).

Again, it would be fairly disingenuous to claim Twitter is not a massive public platform.

[ElNono]

It was cool when Obama blocked someone though.

was it? who did he block?

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/254746-white-house-denies-blocking-13-year-old-critic-on-twitter

[ElNono]

Not saying this is a slam dunk case, BTW, but it doesn't help that government policy comments are made from a personal account.

That's why, IIRC, other administrations used a government account instead, where the line can be drawn much more clearly.

[pgardn]

So, is anyone blocking these tweeters from tweeting? Also, it's not a public forum, it's a privately owned enterprise, right?

Yeah.

Microphones are made by private companies.
He is using Twitter as a government forum.
Hes stated as much with aides.

What the hell does it even matter, he is still using it the way he wants. It’s his autistic fireside chat with the country.

[LkrFan]

Sounds absurd to me tbh

Why?