Bloomberg Law
July 9, 2019, 3:01 PMUpdated: July 9, 2019, 5:21 PM

Trump Violates First Amendment by Blocking Critics on Twitter (2)

Bernie Pazanowski
Bernie Pazanowski
Reporter

President Donald Trump violated the First Amendment by blocking critics from his Twitter account, a federal appeals court ruled July 9.

The president created a public forum by using Twitter to conduct official business, and therefore can’t discriminate on the basis of viewpoint, the opinion by Judge Barrington D. Parker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said.

Trump therefore can’t prevent critics from using the interactive space on his account to respond to his Tweets, the court said.

“Public officials’ social media accounts are now among the most significant forums for discussion of government policy,” Jameel ...

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