President Donald Trump
A court ruling on Wednesday has ordered President Donald Trump to
unblock critics on Twitter with the claim that he can’t shut out
opposing viewpoints.
A federal district court judge in May ruled that blocking people
from the president’s @realDonaldTrump account violated First Amendment
free speech rights in a case brought by The Knight First Amendment
Institute at Columbia University. The seven people named in the suit
were unblocked as the decision was appealed.
The institute tweeted on Wednesday that it had gotten word that
many people on a list of 41 more Twitter users it had given to the
Department of Justice had also been unblocked by @realDonaldTrump.
“We’re pleased to see the White House take steps to comply with
the district court’s ruling that the First Amendment prohibits the
president from blocking Twitter users simply because they have
criticized him,” the institute said.
“However, we continue to receive reports that individuals
beyond those we identified remain blocked from the @realDonaldTrump
account.”
The institute argued that it was incumbent on the White House to
immediately unblock any Twitter users shut off from the president’s
account because of political viewpoints.
The Justice Department in June vowed to appeal the ruling, which the institute expressed confidence in defending.