The Knight First Amendment Institute, a free speech group established last year at Columbia University, is filing a lawsuit on behalf of seven individuals who have been blocked from President Trump’s twitter account after criticizing the president. (Fishbowl)
The Knight Institute said since the Trump administration has promoted the @realdonaldtrump account as a primary communication channel between the president and the public—sometimes declaring tweets to be official statements—it constitutes a public forum protected by the First Amendment. Since blocking people from the Twitter account prevents them from reading Trump’s tweets, responding directly or engaging in discussion threads, it violates users’ constitutional free speech rights—as well as their right to petition the government for a redress of grievances, according to the release. (Poynter)
The plaintiffs in this case include songwriter Holly Figueroa and comedian Nicholas Pappas, as well as a former professional cyclist, a police officer and a sociology professor. (Variety)