Bill unblocks Twitter user after ruling
President Trump isn’t the only public figure who blocks constituents on Twitter.
The NYPD’s 28th Precinct and the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence blocked a criminal justice activist after she complained about her abuse case and cautioned other victims.
Grace Price, 47, sued the NYPD and the de Blasio administration in 2015, arguing her First Amendment rights were violated.
The suit was similar to one filed against Trump last summer by First Amendment groups he blocked on Twitter. They argued public officials can’t block users due to different viewpoints.
A federal judge ruled Trump can’t block users from viewing his feed. The administration is appealing, contending that blocking people is akin to ignoring individuals in a crowd.
The de Blasio administration took a similar tack against Price in court.
Price upset the moderator of the NYPD’s 28th Precinct’s Twitter account when she highlighted that person accidentally tweeted a link to a jewelry website. The tweet was supposed to link to a list of domestic violence prevention events in 2014.
“Your selection is nice,” Price tweeted sarcastically, noting the link “leads to a JEWELRY MALL.”
Price also angered the Twitter moderator of the Mayor’s Office of to Prevent Domestic Violence.
“Victims be wary of the 2-8,” she cautioned in one tweet at the agency, referring to the 28th Precinct.
Price contends officers there ignored her complaints against an abusive boyfriend.
“The tweets were very benign,” she said. “But stuff that they don’t want out there.”
Manhattan federal Judge Katherine Polk Failla tossed the Twitter component of the suit in June, saying the city was allowed to block Price because the claim was dealing with a technology that had never been addressed by the court.
Price was unblocked by the city Twitter accounts the day the decision was issued.