U.S. President Donald Trump is not allowed to block critics on Twitter simply because he dislikes their views, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.
the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued the 3-0 ruling saying the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment forbids the president from using Twitter’s “blocking” function to limit access to his account, which is otherwise open to the public.
The legal challenge was brought by seven people who had been blocked by Trump for criticizing his policies, in conjunction with the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
President Trump has more than 60 million Twitter followers and is a very frequent user of the social media site.
He is known to comment on various issues via the twitter account.
In their ruling on Tuesday, the judges said they were reminding the public “if the first amendment means anything, it means that the best response to disfavoured speech on matters of public concern is more speech, not less.”
Even though President Trump has previously used Twitter to air his disagreement with courts on various rulings, he is yet to respond to Tuesday’s ruling.
