Trump's blocking of Twitter users violates U.S. Constitution: rights institute

[GennGreymane]

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN18X2LR

A free-speech institute on Tuesday sent a letter to President Donald Trump demanding the prolific tweeter unblock certain Twitter (TWTR.N) users on grounds the practice violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Trump's @realDonaldTrump account recently blocked a number of accounts that replied to his tweets with commentary that criticized, mocked or disagreed with his actions. Twitter users are unable to see or respond to tweets from accounts that block them.

The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University in New York said in its letter that the blocking suppressed speech in a public forum protected by the Constitution.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Twitter Inc said it had no comment.

Alex Abdo, the institute's senior staff attorney, likened Twitter to a modern form of town hall meeting or public comment periods for government agency proposals, both venues where U.S. law requires even-handed treatment of speech.

Eric Goldman, a Santa Clara University law professor who focuses on internet law, said that previous cases involving politicians blocking users on Facebook (FB.O) supported the Knight Institute's position.

If the institute should sue, Trump could claim his @realDonaldTrump account is for personal use and separate from his official duties as president, Goldman said. But he called that defense "laughable."

Trump also has a presidential @POTUS Twitter account. The Knight Institute said its arguments would apply with "equal force" to both accounts.

Trump's Twitter use has drawn intense media attention for his unvarnished commentary about his agenda and attacks on critics. His tweets are often retweeted tens of thousands of times, and can shape the news cycle.

Legal experts have said his tweets may directly affect policy. A chain of postings about his travel ban may hamper his administration's defense in courts.

O'Reilly was blocked on May 28 after posting a brief animated clip of Pope Francis appearing uncomfortable during a meeting with Trump with a caption, "this is pretty much how the whole world sees you," the letter said.

Papp learned he was blocked on June 4 after responding to a Trump tweet with a tweet labeling the president a "#fake leader."

The accounts are just two of several that have been blocked by Trump or his aides, Abdo said.

[Orbitus]

I'm not yet convinced, being blocked on Twitter doesn't prevent you from still posting tweets, it just makes your tweets not visible to Trump (or at least he won't be notified of them).

This is as absurd as saying that if you phone anyone in government they can never hang up no matter how long you keep the line busy or how disruptive you are. So silly.

Considering if you read the fucking quote that Genn posted, you will also see that if someone blocks you, you cannot see their tweets anymore and cannot respond to them.

Trump's @realDonaldTrump account recently blocked a number of accounts that replied to his tweets with commentary that criticized, mocked or disagreed with his actions. Twitter users are unable to see or respond to tweets from accounts that block them.

Again, who's alt account are you? Trying to bypass a ban?

[Orbitus]

Sure you can. Not hard to just log out and log back in and you'll see it.

As for not responding, no. All you need to do is manually type "@RealDonaldTrump hello world"

So you think logging out and logging back in allows you to see something that Twitter says cannot happen? That isn't how Twitter fucking works.

[Edge-]

So you think logging out and logging back in allows you to see something that Twitter says cannot happen? That isn't how Twitter fucking works.

No, but he's correct that logging out of Twitter will allow anyone blocked by Trump to see his tweets while logged out. And while I'm not 100% on this, they can still tweet at him despite being blocked, no?

[JohnBrown1917]

So you think logging out and logging back in allows you to see something that Twitter says cannot happen? That isn't how Twitter fucking works.

Huh? You can still see somebodies tweets if you log out.

[Celista]

That is ridiculous. It is akin to a free speech group writing MMO-C letters telling them to clear their ignore list, because it violates the rights of posters you have on ignore. Twitter is a privately held social media platform. Your "right" to free speech does not mean that Twitter has to let you tweet, or that you have to view messages from everyone who messages you.

I hate defending anything regarding Trump but this is pretty stupid.

[Allybeboba]

By blocking someone on twitter it violates the Constitution. Did I read that correctly?
That means all those people everywhere in America that have people on an ignore list on anything are in violation of the Constitution?
Time to clear that WoW ignore list from PvP.

[Krastyn]

So you think logging out and logging back in allows you to see something that Twitter says cannot happen? That isn't how Twitter fucking works.

Actually, it is. you can go on twitter right now, and look at all of Donald Trump's tweets without logging into twitter, or having an account at all.

[Sting]

I seem to recall the american first amendment as not counting on privately owned websites such as mmo-champion or twitter?

[CostinR]

This is uncharted territory. There's plenty of uncharted territory with social media and the law.

[Masark]

By blocking someone on twitter it violates the Constitution. Did I read that correctly?

No, you skipped over the part where its THE PRESIDENT (you know, that guy who is supposedly the head of your government) blocking people.

[Ripster42]

This seems really weird. Trump himself has said he uses the platform to talk to his constituents, so it does seems like his accounts could be considered government entities, unless he stops tweeting about policy/diplomacy/anything related to the government on his private account. On the other hand, it's fucking twitter, who gives a shit.

Edit: Well, having just seen another thread here, it's lending more credence to being a governmental entity: Spicy says tweets are official statements.

[Orbitus]

This seems really weird. Trump himself has said he uses the platform to talk to his constituents, so it does seems like his accounts could be considered government entities, unless he stops tweeting about policy/diplomacy/anything related to the government on his private account. On the other hand, it's fucking twitter, who gives a shit.

Edit: Well, having just seen another thread here, it's lending more credence to being a governmental entity: Spicy says tweets are official statements.

And with that, it makes the case against him stronger for the lawsuit. As he is directly violating peoples' first amendment rights to address their government.

[Jotaux]

That is ridiculous. It is akin to a free speech group writing MMO-C letters telling them to clear their ignore list, because it violates the rights of posters you have on ignore. Twitter is a privately held social media platform. Your "right" to free speech does not mean that Twitter has to let you tweet, or that you have to view messages from everyone who messages you.

I hate defending anything regarding Trump but this is pretty stupid.

I think the issue here is not that its some joe shmoe blocking people, its the President. I think its a weak argument but I can see what they are going for.

[Celista]

I think the issue here is not that its some joe shmoe blocking people, its the President. I think its a weak argument but I can see what they are going for.

Yeah, I know. It's a very weak argument as it is involving Trump's private twitter account, not his POTUS account.

[Mormolyce]

That is ridiculous. It is akin to a free speech group writing MMO-C letters telling them to clear their ignore list, because it violates the rights of posters you have on ignore. Twitter is a privately held social media platform. Your "right" to free speech does not mean that Twitter has to let you tweet, or that you have to view messages from everyone who messages you.

I hate defending anything regarding Trump but this is pretty stupid.

Normally that would be the case, but consider the situation if a President began conducting official business via MMO-C's boards.

He's muddied the waters by failing to separate his personal tweeting from the job of the President.

Relevant:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...use-Statements

[Allybeboba]

No, you skipped over the part where its THE PRESIDENT (you know, that guy who is supposedly the head of your government) blocking people.

Oh...
Everyone else can do it, just not the PotUS.

[Ripster42]

Yeah, I know. It's a very weak argument as it is involving Trump's private twitter account, not his POTUS account.

Spicy says they're official statements.

[Mister Cheese]

I'm looking at Donald Trump's twitter feed. There just seems to be more people that don't support him and telling him to go fuck himself and the like as the top replies to any given tweet. There seems to be a trend where they're trying to use Trump's twitter as a platform seeing as how he 31 million followers. If you get a highly favorited tweet everyone will see it unless his account blocks you.

Verified leftwing journos are usually the top rated comments. And they are the ones that said they were blocked. Make of that what you will.

[Cthulhu 2020]

If Trump's tweets are now official statements by the white house, then indeed, Trump's twitter account should act as a state twitter account would.

Although of course that means acting with dignity, which Trump won't.