A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the “interactive space” where people respond to President Trump’s tweets is a “designated public forum” covered by the First Amendment. As such, the White House cannot block users based on the viewpoints they express in their responses to Trump.
The suit was brought by seven individuals whose tweets got them blocked, along with the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
U.S. District Judge Naomi Buchwald in New York rejected the administration’s arguments that the president, in blocking the users, was simply exercising the right a private individual might have to choose “not to engage” with the individuals who brought the lawsuit. The audience for a reply on Trump’s account isn’t just Trump, she ruled, rejecting the administration’s argument. It’s the entire audience of millions who were deprived of the ability to read the replies the plaintiffs in the case posted.
“In sum,” she wrote, “we conclude that the blocking of the individual plaintiffs as a result of the political views they have expressed is impermissible under the First Amendment.”
