Court Rules Trump Is Violating Constitution By Blocking People On Twitter

It appears that President Trump has been violating the Constitution by blocking people from following his Twitter account because they criticized or mocked him. This comes from a federal appeals court yesterday. 

“The First Amendment does not permit a public official who utilizes a social media account for all manner of official purposes to exclude persons from an otherwise-open dialogue because they expressed views with which the official disagrees,” a panel of three Second Circuit judges wrote in a unanimous opinion.

The ruling was one of the highest-profile court decisions yet in a growing constellation of cases addressing what the First Amendment means in a time when political expression increasingly takes place online. 

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,Judge Parker wrote. 

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.

Source: Vox


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