Pirate's Cove

This might be one the most First World Problems ever

Twitter Users Blocked by Trump Seek Reprieve, Citing First Amendment

Lawyers for Twitter users blocked by President Trump after they criticized or mocked him are asking him to reverse the moves, arguing that the Constitution bars him from blocking people on the social media service.

The request raises novel legal issues stemming from Mr. Trump’s use of his Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, to make statements about public policy. In a letter sent to Mr. Trump on Tuesday, lawyers for several users he has blocked argued that his account was a “public forum” from which the government may not constitutionally exclude people because it disagrees with views they have expressed.

“This Twitter account operates as a ‘designated public forum’ for First Amendment purposes, and accordingly the viewpoint-based blocking of our clients is unconstitutional,” the letter said. “We ask that you unblock them and any others who have been blocked for similar reasons.”

The letter implies that if the Trump administration does not comply, a lawsuit may follow. The blocked Twitter users are represented by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, whose executive director, Jameel Jaffer, said in a statement that Mr. Trump did not have a right to exclude his critics from engaging with his posts.

The NY Times actually had a Room For Debate between two professors of law on the subject back in November, and they came to two different conclusions. Overall, though, this is just whiny whining in the 1st World. Consider, for one thing, that people are starving in places around the world. Consider that people are homeless here in America. Consider that America’s dent is massive.

Then consider that people are complaining that they can’t read Trump’s tweets. Sigh

In reality, they can read them any time they want. Just log out of Twitter. You don’t see me complaining that Rep. Keith Ellison blocked me, along with 2 other minor reps I can’t remember. Where were all the people complaining and filing for reprieves when Obama blocked a few people, such as Cloyd River (deeper in the article) and meninist. Heck, it was reported that Twitter had tools to stop “trolls” that were only available to Obama.

Seriously, though, these are things people are worried (or, is that Worried?) about.

More from Jim Treacher at Daily Caller, who points to something else in the NY Times article above

One of the Twitter users the letter said Mr. Trump had blocked is Holly O’Reilly, whose account is @AynRandPaulRyan.

Jim notes that, guess this, he’s blocked by Holly

I’ve never interacted with this person in my life. I’d never even heard of her before yesterday. And yet the woman who made the pages of the New York Times because Trump blocked her… had blocked me. Apparently she used some sort of block list, because a lot of other people who follow me on Twitter are discovering they’ve been blocked by her too.

She has every right to do so, of course. I never would’ve cared, or even noticed, if she hadn’t made a spectacle of herself in the Newspaper of Record by howling about Trump doing the exact same thing to her.

I’m not sure who the heck she is, but, she’s blocked me, as well.

Huh.

Crossed at Right Wing News.