Twitter users, blocked by President Trump, cry censorship

When you think about social media, you probably think about your friends and family, or maybe a brand or company you’ve interacted with.

Trump’s critics charge that by tweeting whatever is on his mind, he appears unstable and unreliable, which is all the more problematic in a world which doubts America’s credibility. What if they only broadcast, and don’t interact? In a letter, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University argued that Trump’s Twitter account was a public forum, and banning users from viewing or engaging with his tweets suppresses free speech.

The Institute argues that with so many USA officials using the platform – including all 50 governors, 100 senators, and every House member – if used for communication relating to democracy or running the country, Twitter should be considered a valid public forum in which the general public’s rights are protected.

The campaign by Trump’s closest supporters amounts to a remarkable appeal to a sitting commander-in-chief, a sort of public intervention with the aim of convincing Trump to give up behavior that they believe is doing lasting damage to his presidency.

The most constitutionally significant effect would be that blocked users apparently can’t post to Twitter comment threads, at least without some complicated workarounds.

The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University in NY says that the president blocking anybody suppresses free speech in a public forum.

Trump has previously been called out for blocking people on Twitter and has faced scrutiny for deleting his tweets. And this is a problem.

Since he took office, Mr. Trump has been involved in spats with high-profile leaders, demanded criminal investigations, warned former FBI Director James B. Comey to tread carefully, set foreign policy and offered legal advice to his own attorneys. “It has also supplied the public with a means of engaging you directly”.

The lawyers represent two Twitter users in particular. In other words, if Trump doesn’t unblock you, you’ll eventually be able to visit the National Archives to see his tweets, assuming you still care about his early morning rants by the time they’re preserved. But is he actually allowed to use them?

Read the entire report about the president’s impetuous Twitter habit and the damage it does via the Post. But 41 percent of Republicans say Trump’s Twitter habit is a good thing, compared to 37 percent who say it’s a bad thing.

The letter also makes the same request for the president’s @POTUS account. “No one has the right to compel someone else to communicate with them.”.

Twelve percent said they do not have an opinion and 4 percent said Trump is not tweeting enough.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said this week that the President’s Tweets should be treated as official statements.

“The crucial question is whether a government official has opened up some space, whether public or private, for expressive activity, and there’s no question that Trump has done that here”, Jaffer said. Under that arrangement, it would be unconstitutional for the president to block anyone from seeing or engaging with his @realDonaldTrump Twitter account.