Knight First Amendment Institute v. Donald J. Trump
Case Law- Country
- Country Location
Latitude: 39.778231903243785
Longitude: -100.8801256788983
- Country Location (Lié Case Law)
- United States
- Decision Date
- 9 juil. 2019
- Case Outcome (Procedural)
- Affirmed Lower Court
- Case Outcome (Disposition)
- Law or Action Overturned or Deemed Unconstitutional
- Keywords
- Freedom of Expression
- Political Expression
- Social Media
- Judicial Body
- Appellate Court
- Case Number
- 18-1691-cv
- Case Summary
A U.S. appeals court affirmed a lower court ruling that President Donald J. Trump engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination after he blocked users from his Twitter account for posting comments he disliked. The Court found there was “overwhelming evidence” that the account was used for official purposes and that the blocking was a restriction by the government, rejecting the President's claim that his Twitter account was personal. The Court considered Twitter’s interactive functions such as replying, retweeting, and liking to be forms of expressive conduct allowing individuals to communicate not only with the President but with thousands of others. The Court further established that the Twitter account constituted a public forum on the grounds that it was controlled by the government, and Twitter’s interactive features made it “accessible to the public without limitation.” The Court rejected the government's argument that the activity on the account was government speech, holding that Trump's individual tweets were, but the messages posted by users were private speech. Therefore, the Court concluded that President Trump violated the First Amendment when he blocked the Plaintiffs for posting messages critical of him and his policies.
- Case Significance
The decision establishes a binding or persuasive precedent within its jurisdiction.
- Related Caselaw (self)
- Source Name and URL
- Columbia Global Freedom of Expression