Leader hit with lawsuit for blocking Twitter users

NEW YORK: President Donald Trump and high-ranking members of the White House staff were sued on Tuesday by the Knight First Amendment Institute, which alleges the president’s blocking of dissenting Twitter users violates the US constitution.

The case filed in Manhattan federal court seeks a court order that Mr Trump stop the practice. The institute, a non-profit organisation affiliated with Columbia University, first warned it may seek an injunction in early June when they sent a letter to Mr Trump, his counsel, press secretary, and social media director.

At the time, the institute represented two Twitter users, both of whom said they were blocked after criticising the president on the social media platform. Tuesday’s lawsuit represents seven such Twitter users.

In the complaint, the foundation argues that the president’s Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, is “a public forum under the First Amendment” because of how both Mr Trump and his staff use the account to communicate. Press secretary Sean Spicer has previously said Mr Trump’s tweets are official statements.

“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,” Jameel Jaffer, the Knight Institute’s executive director, said in a statement.

“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 simply because they’ve disagreed with the president.”

The Knight Institute requested that the court move to declare “viewpointbased blocking” by the president’s account unconstitutional, unblock the plaintiffs, and pay the plaintiffs’ attorneys fees.

A request for comment from the White House wasn’t immediately returned.