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Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter

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Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter

#231

Post by Karishma1234 »

bcheung wrote: post #124
Karishma1234 wrote: post #90

I 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 m…

You need to define harassment. For example what kind of harassment is avoided by blocking instead of just muting a person ?

> They can just open an incognito window. They aren't really blocked from viewing his tweets.

What if your local DMV tells a black citizen to go to some other DMV and get a driving manual ?

Secondly, if you are an ordinary person and I retweet your every tweet calling you a moron you might consider it harassment and block me but public officials do not have such luxury. It is a very fundamental feature of American democracy to call your president an idiot. He can't claim harassment there.

Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter

#232

Post by spookthesunset »

xienze wrote: post #202
cmiles74 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody is forcing Trump to use Twitter. They are saying that if he uses Twitter, he must leave his tweets open to all the public and not a subset. President Trump could always choose to close his account if he finds this requirement to be too onerous.

> They are saying that if he uses Twitter, he must leave his tweets open to all the public and not a subset. But they are. Click logout if you’re one of the few professional Twitter trolls that actually managed to get his attention.

> Click logout if you’re one of the few professional Twitter trolls that actually managed to get his attention

I.e. "people the President of the United States doesn't like". Even if those people have every right to have their voice be heard--as enshrined in the constitution. Saying "oh, they can just view his posts by going into incognito mode" is a pretty slippery slope to saying it is okay for the government to actively block certain undesirables from accessing government communication.

What kind of totalitarian government are you arguing for?

Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter

#233

Post by Karishma1234 »

ballenf wrote: post #127
Karishma1234 wrote: post #90

I 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?

Blocking means your voice is take away. You can't retweet or respond.

Trump could just mute you and no matter what you do he wont be bothered. When he blocks he is taking away your right to critise him on that platform using your own handle.

Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter

#234

Post by drivingmenuts »

xienze wrote: post #194
aksss wrote: post #64

This 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…

> 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 Well, the important part is that the judge stuck it to Trump. That’s really all that matters to some people.

> That seems like it's in the "suicide pact" column of rights defense

Not if you consider the nature of a public official. It's not that Trump is The President, he's A President - one of many in a line stretching back to George Washington and hopefully, stretching forward for millennia to come. There's nothing singular or unique about his occupation of that office (well, hopefully you get my meaning there).

As such, he should be expected to behave by the laws governing the office, not the laws governing the individual in the office.

It would be different if he were a king, whose rights and powers supposedly descend from God (at least in European tradition). First, he would be making the laws up, possibly from the whole cloth, and second, a king, by divine right, is answerable to none but himself and God.

Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter

#235

Post by maxerickson »

icebraining wrote: post #40
ChuckMcM wrote: post #34

An interesting ruling, here is my prediction on the effect of the ruling: This will enable the twitterati to get Trump off Twitter. Without the ability to block users, he will be hounded with notifications from adversaries using trigger phrases designed to irritate and harass him.

He can still mute them: https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/advanced-twitter-m...

You can also disable the notifications.

Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter

#236

Post by daveguy »

zaroth wrote: post #225
daveguy wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before Twitter came along the president didn't have the legal ability to prevent you from criticizing him in any other venue either.

Trump removed plenty of hecklers from his campaign events.

Good point. If critical tweets kept him from giving his message then I expect the judge would have ruled differently.

Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter

#237

Post by Grovara123 »

JasonFruit wrote: post #215

Wait, any public official? So the elected school board members in my town can't block me on Twitter if I go on crazy racist tirades, as long as they're political in nature? How about the dogcatcher? He can't block PETA animal rights screed accounts? And doesn't being forced to let cranks interact with prominent accounts increase those cranks' visibility? Is that forcing the prominent person to promote speech with whi…

Public officials who have accounts considered “public forums” which are open to strongest first amendment protections.

Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter

#238

Post by spookthesunset »

Andre_Wanglin wrote: post #173
rovek wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blocking on Twitter also prevents the blocked user from view the blocker's timeline, which means Trump would be preventing US citizens from viewing his "public statements" Edit: Is this being downvoted because of some inferred snark? None was intended.

You are being downvoted because you are wrong. Blocked users can log out and read to their hearts' content.

> Blocked users can log out and read to their hearts' content.

So private citizens now have to work around a block from President of the United States in order to read official communication? Is that the kind of country you want to live in?

You know for sure as shit that homeboy was blocking more then Rolex watch spammers and markov chain bots. He was blocking the accounts of journalists, dissenters, and other private citizens. That is a fucked up thing for somebody who is a public official. What kind of dangerous precedent does allowing that kind of behavior set?

Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter

#239

Post by giarc »

koolba wrote: post #143
giarc wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> But is it his personal account anymore? Yes. For example one of his tweets from earlier today isn't a matter of public policy, it's his opinion on the current state of affairs: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/99928232531686604... > It's a verified account with the description of "45th President of the United States of America". Many people on Twitter have "Works @company" or "$TITLE as Company" on their…

Re: your 2nd point about other people with twitter profiles that say "works @company". They often have disclaimer that simply says "Thoughts are my own". The president does not.

Additionally, the Presidential Records Act seems to cover non-official electronic communication and states that all communication through non-official channels still need to be recorded.

https://www.archives.gov/about/laws/presidential-records.htm...

Re: Judge Rules Trump Can’t Block People on Twitter

#240

Post by Taniwha »

brownell wrote: post #56
Taniwha wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is a 1st amendment issue - which doesn't say you have the right to say anything, it actually says that the government (and the president) cannot stop you from saying things - Trump blocking people on Twitter is exactly this

Excuse my ignorance... You're saying that if someone blocks you on Twitter you're no longer allowed to post something with their @handle? Or that they, as the blocker, just won't see it? If it's the former, then I would agree with you. If it's the latter, and you're not actually blocked from posting (saying) anything, then where exactly is the violation?

it's the former, you can also 'mute' someone which is the latter
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