It goes without saying that Donald Trump is an active Twitter user. As president, his tweets and online feuds are an almost constant source of national news and interest. Called out for his cyber bullying, Trump also blocks Twitter users who criticize him, including Chrissy Teigen. Now, in a federal court ruling, judges announced that it is unconstitutional and therefore, illegal for Trump to block anyone on Twitter.
On Wednesday, the U.S. District Judgge Naomi Reice Buchwald said, “This case requires us to consider whether a public official may, consistent with the First Amendment, ‘block’ a person from his Twitter account in response to the political views that person has expressed, and whether the analysis differs because that public official is the President of the United States. The answer to both questions is no.”
Buchwald went on to explain why people with opposing political views to the president should be allowed to engage with him on Twitter saying, “The ‘interactive space’ where Twitter users may directly engage with the content of the President’s tweets…is a designated public forum.”
The court ruled that blocking Twitter users from this public forum violates the First Amendment and that no public official, not even the President, “is above the law.”
Twitter responses flooded in once the ruling was announced, including one from Teigen, who Trump blocked in July 2017.
In a tweet showing a news report of the Twitter blocking ruling, Teigen wrote (@chrissyteigen), “well well well we meet again @realDonaldTrump.”
Mexico’s former president, Vincente Fox Quesada also joined in saying (@VincenteFoxQue), “Yass! @realDonaldTrump, I just want to say: every step you take, every move you make…I’ll be watching you.”