Trump can’t block critics from his Twitter account, appeals court rules
President Donald Trump has been violating the Constitution by blocking people from following his Twitter account because they criticized or mocked him, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The ruling could have broader implications for how the First Amendment applies to the socialmedia era.
Because Trump uses Twitter to conduct government business, he cannot exclude some Americans from reading his posts — and engaging in conversations in the replies to them — because he does not like their views, a three-judge panel on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously.
The ruling was one of the highest-profile court decitakes sions yet in a growing constellation of cases addressing what the First Amendment means in a time when political expression increasingly place online. It is also a time, Judge Barrington D. Parker wrote, when government conduct is subject to a “wide-open, robust debate” that “generates a level of passion and intensity the likes of which have rarely been seen.”
The First Amendment prohibits an official who uses a social-media account for government purposes from excluding people from an “otherwise open online dialogue” because they say things that the official finds objectionable, Parker wrote.
“This debate, as uncomfortable and as unpleasant as it frequently may be, is nonetheless a good thing,” the judge wrote. “In resolving this appeal, we remind the litigants and the public that if the First Amendment means anything, it means that the best response to disfavored speech on matters of public concern is more speech, not less.”
The Justice Department expressed disappointment in the ruling but said officials had not yet decided whether to appeal to the full appeals court or the Supreme Court.
“We are disappointed with the court’s decision and are exploring possible next steps,” said Kelly Laco, a department spokeswoman.
THE DECISION MAY HAVE BROADER IMPLICATIONS FOR HOW THE FIRST AMENDMENT APPLIES TO OFFICIALS’ ACCOUNTS IN THE SOCIAL-MEDIA ERA.
“As we argued, President Trump’s decision to block users from his personal Twitter account does not violate the First Amendment.”
But Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which represented a group of Twitter users who were blocked by Trump and filed the lawsuit, praised the ruling. He said that public officials’ socialmedia accounts are among the most significant forums for the public to discuss government policy.