Twitter will respond with deprecation for Blocking in favor of a new feature. Ignore. which will only be available for celebrities.
Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter
121–130 of 352 posts
Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter
#122> The judge said the comment section of Trump’s personal account, @realDonaldTrump, is a public forum and that blocking users on the basis of political speech is a violation of their free-speech rights under the First Amendment. If this applied to @potus I might agree with it but applying it to his personal account is rubbish. You could easily extend that same logic to say that any elected official, at any level of g…
But is it his personal account anymore? It's a verified account with the description of "45th President of the United States of America". When he speaks (tweets) he speaks as the POTUS. Doesn't matter if it's from the @potus account or @realdonaldtrump account.
Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter
#123I am not legal expert but it makes perfect sense that any government official must not deny access to information to any citizen which is easily available to another. Blocking means other person can not see trump's tweets. I believe Trump can always mute other people. Let us consider the following scenarios : - Trump blocks only black people on Twitter. - Hawaii's missile alert systems issues a real missile alert on…
Interesting too since Twitter makes all tweets public, thus an incognito window could still see those tweets. Which means that it's more about account notification and other tweet prioritization "features" of the platform that are related to getting news/information.
If this is the case, what does this mean for twitter's algorithms in deciding what to show you first - a democrat you follow or a republic you follow that both talk about a topic you care about (for example cotton picking in Texas)... Would this by any chance have an effect on that?
Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter
#124I am not legal expert but it makes perfect sense that any government official must not deny access to information to any citizen which is easily available to another. Blocking means other person can not see trump's tweets. I believe Trump can always mute other people. Let us consider the following scenarios : - Trump blocks only black people on Twitter. - Hawaii's missile alert systems issues a real missile alert on…
Block also makes it so people can't harass you. I think this is an important distinction.
By saying you can't block someone the judge is also saying you can't ignore someone who is harassing you.
Anyone who isn't logged in can still see it. They can just open an incognito window. They aren't really blocked from viewing his tweets.
It's unfortunate that the 2 are tied together into the same function. This would be a much simpler and less controversial issue then.
Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter
#125I am not legal expert but it makes perfect sense that any government official must not deny access to information to any citizen which is easily available to another. Blocking means other person can not see trump's tweets. I believe Trump can always mute other people. Let us consider the following scenarios : - Trump blocks only black people on Twitter. - Hawaii's missile alert systems issues a real missile alert on…
Because Twitter is not a government owned entity, the government should have no right to force the use or means of use of a private tool. Now if the tool was a government utility, it would be a different story.
Correct, Twitter is not. The judge made no ruling regarding the functionality of Twitter. What the judge ruled on is what a government employee is allowed to do in respect to using the tool. You are still welcome to block people. Trump is not.
Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter
#126Twitter will respond with deprecation for Blocking in favor of a new feature. Ignore. which will only be available for celebrities.
They already have this, it just doesn't block accounts from seeing what you've posted
Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter
#127I am not legal expert but it makes perfect sense that any government official must not deny access to information to any citizen which is easily available to another. Blocking means other person can not see trump's tweets. I believe Trump can always mute other people. Let us consider the following scenarios : - Trump blocks only black people on Twitter. - Hawaii's missile alert systems issues a real missile alert on…
Doesn't it just mean you have to click one button, "logout", to read the tweets?
Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most politicians don't use their Twitter feed to make policy, like Trump does. If you run a widget business, and Trump makes a tweet that says, "I ban all widgets, especially widget company x", you should have the right to see that from the source. That's the distinction the judge made - Trump uses his feed as an official government policy mouthpiece.
A mouthpiece yes, but an official way to "make policy" no. Policy is still created through official means like signing executive orders, etc.
They count as official statements by the POTUS. No different if he were to go on TV, Radio, etc and make an announcement/proclamation.
These statements can have legal power behind them such as declassifying documents.
Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter
#129This seems wrong on the face of it. The judge asks the rhetorical question of whether the logic changes based on whether he's president or not, and he answers his question with a "No". So this is saying that no public official can block others on Twitter. That seems like it's in the "suicide pact" column of rights defense, but then I'm not one that cares about Twitter personally. Just seems that plenty of other forum…
> And given that blocking is part and parcel to the app, it would seem like everyone is buying into the terms of the environment when they start using it
That isn't how this works. Just because Twitter allows people to block stuff, doesn't mean Trump gets to block stuff.
In a "normal" government, they'd pick a vendor with software that would let them make official policy statements in a way that complied with the laws around people having the right to reach out to their government officials.
Just 'cause twitter's software lets him do something doesn't make actually doing that thing legal, moral, or ethical.
This judgement makes perfect sense and is completely reasonable when you remember that technology is a mere tool designed to serve humans. Just cause you can do something in a tool doesn't make it right.
Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter
#130I am not legal expert but it makes perfect sense that any government official must not deny access to information to any citizen which is easily available to another. Blocking means other person can not see trump's tweets. I believe Trump can always mute other people. Let us consider the following scenarios : - Trump blocks only black people on Twitter. - Hawaii's missile alert systems issues a real missile alert on…
Because Twitter is not a government owned entity, the government should have no right to force the use or means of use of a private tool. Now if the tool was a government utility, it would be a different story.
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