If you’ve paid any attention at all to the news over the past, oh, three years, you’ve become aware of President’s Trump ability to elbow himself into nearly facet of American life these days. Just ask the NFL.
On Tuesday, a federal judge sided with a group of plaintiffs that sued the President, arguing his blocking of them on Twitter was a violation of their First Amendment rights. Twitter, the judge argued, is a public sphere, and the President’s blocking of certain Twitter users shut them out of a public discussion.
And the way Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald wrote the decision left many believing the rule applies to all public employees, not just the President. (Those so inclined can view the entire ruling here.)
Federal district court judge in New York says Trump cannot block Twitter users over their political views on his @realDonaldTrump account in a fascinating decision that deals with the frontiers of digital public speech. pic.twitter.com/8xPXuzZ2s9
— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) May 23, 2018
It’s an open question as to actually would enforce this ruling if an assistant football coach were to block a Twitter hater, but this is why the Twitter Gods created the mute button.
