US president sued for blocking people on Twitter

WASHINGTON: A group of Twitter users blocked by President Donald Trump filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday claiming the White House is violating the constitution by keeping them out of a “public forum”.

The lawsuit was filed by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University on behalf of seven people whose Twitter accounts were blocked.

The complaint alleges that by blocking Twitter users based on their viewpoints, the president is keeping them out of online dialogue on current events, in violation of their free-speech rights in the US constitution’s First Amendment.

The blocking, the lawsuit said, “imposes an unconstitutional restriction on their participation in a designated public forum” and aims “to suppress dissent in this forum”.

The users were blocked from Trump’s Twitter because they criticised him or his policies, the lawsuit alleges.

Also named in the suit were the president’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, and social media director Daniel Scavino.

The free-speech group said the White House failed to respond to a letter last month complaining about the blocking.

“President Trump’s Twitter account has become an important source of news and information about the government, and an important forum for speech by, to, or about the president,” institute executive director Jameel Jaffer said.

“The First Amendment applies to this digital forum in the same way it applies to town halls and open school board meetings. The White House acts unlawfully when it excludes people from this forum because they’ve disagreed with the president.” – AFP