The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled earlier this week that the President isn’t allowed to simply ban critics from his Twitter – saying it would be “violating the constitutional rights of Americans”.
The ruling came after the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University sued Trump on behalf of seven people that he blocked after they criticized his policies on the social media platform.
Given that Mr Trump often uses Twitter to distribute official presidential statements and make major policy announcements (or insult major foreign leaders), the court said blocking users would be barring them from “a public forum”.
“This decision will ensure that people aren’t excluded from these forums simply because of their viewpoints, and that public officials aren’t insulated from their constituents’ criticism . . [and]ensure the integrity and vitality of digital spaces that are increasingly important to our democracy.”
He’s know ‘unblocked’ the seven people who sued – plus a reported 41 others. We doubt we’ll be seeing less enthusiastic Tweets from the President any time soon.
