Trump Twitter's Gov't Role Eyed by Judge in Free-Speech Case
In a letter Tuesday, the judge asked the government to explain why First Amendment protections it agreed kept other official accounts from blocking people didn't apply to Trump's.
March 14, 2018 at 01:58 PM
3 minute read
U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of the Southern District of New York has asked Justice Department attorneys to say how, exactly, President Donald Trump's personal Twitter account differs from official accounts such as @POTUS and @WhiteHouse.
In a letter to the government's attorneys Tuesday, Buchwald referred back to oral arguments held March 8 on summary judgment motions filed by both sides in Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump. During the hearing, Buchwald's questioning centered on Trump's use of Twitter—which he famously has used in part to convey administration messages.
In the case, free-speech advocates are arguing that Trump may not block users from access to his personal Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, the same way elected officials are unable to restrict political speech in other public forums. Buchwald was searching for a way to guarantee free-speech rights in a case where a public official uses a private account to communicate statements of official policy.
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