Twitter users file lawsuit to get Trump to unblock them
Seven Twitter users who have been blocked by the President of the United States are calling on a judge to restore their access to his account.
Seven Twitter users who have been blocked by the President of the United States are calling on a judge to restore their access to his account.
On July 11, the users filed suit along with The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University claiming that it is “unconstitutional” for Donald Trump to block them on Twitter.
“President Trump’s Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, has become an important source of news and information about the government, and an important public forum for speech by, to, and about the President,” the suit said.
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“In an effort to suppress dissent in this forum, Defendants have excluded – ‘blocked’ – Twitter users who have criticized the President or his policies. This practice is unconstitutional, and this suit seeks to end it,” the suit added.
They claimed that Trump was using “viewpoint-based exclusion” to block Twitter accounts, which was a violation of First Amendment rights.
“Without preliminary relief, Plaintiffs will continue to suffer irreparable injury to their First Amendment rights during the pendency of this litigation,” their lawyers wrote.
“We hope the court will order the President and his aides to restore our clients’ access to this forum while the suit proceeds,” said Katie Fallow, a Knight Institute senior staff lawyer. “Allowing this First Amendment violation to continue risks normalizing it.”
The White House has declined to comment on the matter because it is pending litigation.
