Judge rules Trump can't block critics on Twitter ... it's unconstitutional

Kevin Daley, DCNF

HEMPSTEAD, NY - SEPTEMBER 26: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump makes a face during the Presidential Debate at Hofstra University on September 26, 2016 in Hempstead, New York. The first of four debates for the 2016 Election, three Presidential and one Vice Presidential, is moderated by NBC's Lester Holt. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) — (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

A federal judge in New York ruled Wednesday that President Donald Trump cannot lawfully block critics from his personal @realDonaldTrump Twitter account.

U.S. District Court Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald explained Trump’s Twitter account is properly thought of as a “public forum” from which users may not be excluded on the basis of their views.

“We hold that portions of the @realDonaldTrump account — the “interactive space” where Twitter users may directly engage with the content of the President’s tweets — are properly analyzed under the ‘public forum’ doctrines set forth by the Supreme Court, that such space is a designated public forum, and that the blocking of the plaintiffs based on their political speech constitutes viewpoint discrimination that violates the First Amendment,” the decision reads.

For purposes of the First Amendment, a public forum is an open space reserved for free exchange or expression of opinion. Government interference in such spaces is subject to a high degree of judicial scrutiny.

The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University organized the lawsuit.

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