7/9/2019

COURTS/SOCIAL MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A federal appeals court on Tuesday [7-9-19] upheld a lower court ruling that President Donald Trump’s habit of blocking Twitter users he disagrees with violates the First Amendment. A unanimous panel of judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit on Tuesday upheld the district court ruling finding the president’s prolific use of Twitter for official purposes means that blocking users for being critical amounts to discrimination based on their viewpoints. The case was brought against Trump, his social media guru Dan Scavino and former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders by a group of Twitter users who say they were blocked by the president, represented by attorneys with Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute.”

Caitlin Oprysko, “Judges: Trump violates First Amendment when he blocks Twitter critics,” Politico, July 9, 2019 1:00 pm