Blocking Twitter followers may violate the Free Speech clause of the Constitution, if one is president of the United States.
A federal district court judge found that a Facebook page maintained by an elected county official, used to communicate with constituents, acted under color of state law in operating the Facebook page. Thus when she banned a constituent whose claims about the school board she rejected from her Facebook page, it was a governmental action violating the constituent’s right of free speech. Davison v. Loudoun County.
Sound like anything you’ve heard from critics of @realDonaldTrump?
Elected officials and social media
The Founding Fathers were still writing with quill pens when they crafted the Constitution and promulgated the Bill of Rights. What did they know about social media?
Nothing. But they knew about the importance of free speech. And the right to petition the government.
Those rights don’t change when the manner of communication changes.
Just to review. The First Amendment says
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
The Fourteenth Amendment provides in part
No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;
The Supreme Court held in 1940 that the rights listed in the First Amendment are among the liberties that states could not infringe. Cantwell v. Connecticut.
So, states and subordinate governmental bodies can’t take actions that abridge the right of citizens to exercise free speech. Even when the state or officials acting for the state find the speech distasteful or disruptive. “Viewpoint discrimination” is illegal.
Blocking a constituent from commenting on a FB page used for governmental purposes, even though not owned by the governmental entity, violates the Constitution Judge Cacheris found.
Trump and Twitter
While his predecessor left him the Twitter @POTUS account, the current president uses @realDonaldTrump to make policy announcements, urge legislative actions, and excoriate his appointees and others.
The White House tells us that tweets from @realDonaldTrump are official government policy.
And he freely blocks those whose tweets he finds unpleasant.
Sounds a lot like the county supervisor in Davison: discriminating based on viewpoint.
I see lots of jobs for lawyers in the months ahead.
Not sure that was the sector of the economy Trump was elected to promote.
Image © 2013 Shelly ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
