Trump Blocks Twitter Critics, White House Confirms
U.S. President Donald Trump does block critics on Twitter. That's one of several admissions entered by the White House as part of their preparation to defend against a lawsuit accusing Trump of violating First Amendment by blocking users on Twitter.
Trump was sued for blocking users on Twitter, with seven individuals banding together with the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University to file a suit against the sitting U.S. President.
The lawsuit claims that Trump, with his communications team in the White House, "are violating the First Amendment by blocking individuals from the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account because they criticized the president or his policies," as recapped by Engadget back in July.
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Critics who were blocked by Trump can only see Twitter's stock message instead of the president's latest tweets. By submitting this stipulation, the White House is acknowledging the fact that Trump is, indeed, blocking critics from reading or responding to his tweets, saving the courtroom from having to establish this fact.
The White House, however, expects to counter with their argument that the @realDonaldTrump account is a personal handle, and not a publication of the U.S. government. The Knight Institute will not be able to insist on their First Amendment right, in that case, the administration argues, according to Fortune.
A recent decision on public officials using social media to solicit opinions from the public may have some bearing on this, however.
Moreover, another thing that the White House acknowledged is their statement that White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino has access to Trump's account, according to Forbes. Scavino would sometimes post messages through the handle as well on Trump's behalf, as the White House stated in their filing.
Scavino does the exact same thing for other official handles, including @POTUS and @WhiteHouse.
Will these facts undermine the administration's argument that @realDonaldTrump is a personal account, and therefore exempt from First Amendment scrutiny? The public can find out on Oct.13.
