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.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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