President Trump sued over blocking Twitter users
A group of Twitter users filed a lawsuit against President Trump for blocking them from his @realDonaldTrump account alleging it’s unconstitutional
President Donald Trump has been sued by a free-speech group, which claims his practice of blocking Twitter users violates the First Amendment.
Trump, who uses the @realDonaldTrump account in office, has been sued by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University in New York, along with seven individual Twitter users. The suit claims that Trump's blocking of users who are critical of him is a violation of the U.S. Constituion.
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"President Trump’s Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, has become an important source of news and information about the government, and an important public forum for speech by, to, and about the President," the lawsuit reads. "In an effort to suppress dissent in this forum, Defendants have excluded— 'blocked' —Twitter users who have criticized the President or his policies. This practice is unconstitutional, and this suit seeks to end it."
The suit claims it is a violation to suppress dissent. The lawsuit was filed in the federal court in the Southern District of New York.
Trump often takes to Twitter to discuss public policy, including his thoughts on the war against terror, healthcare and other affairs, both foreign and domestic. Henceforth, the suit says the government is not allowed to exclude people, no matter their view on a situation.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer noted in June that Trump's tweets are official statements and the White House often sends out official statements everytime the President tweets.
Trump, along with Spicer and Dan Scavino, the White House director of social media, are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
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The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University is a New York City-based 501(c)(3) organization "that works to defend and strengthen the freedoms of speech and the press in the digital age through strategic litigation, research, and public education," according to the complaint.
The seven individual plaintiffs in the suit are writer and political consultant Rebecca Buckwalter, professor Philip Cohen, political organizer Holly Figueroa, resident in general surgery Eugene Gu, police officer Brandon Neely, former professional cyclist Joseph Papp and comic/writer Nicholas Pappas.
The federal suit is case number 1:17-cv-05205.
The White House declined to comment on this story when asked by Fox News.
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