Twitter users, blocked by Trump, cry censorship
Lawyers for two Twitter users sent the White House a letter Tuesday demanding they be unblocked from the Republican president’s @realDonaldTrump account.
The tweeters — one a liberal activist, the other a cyclist who says he’s a registered Republican — have posted and retweeted plenty of complaints and jokes about Trump.
[...] White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that Trump’s tweets are “considered official statements by the president.”
The institute’s executive director, Jameel Jaffer, compares Trump’s Twitter account to a politician renting a privately owned hall and inviting the public to a meeting.
“The crucial question is whether a government official has opened up some space, whether public or private, for expressive activity, and there’s no question that Trump has done that here,” Jaffer said.
[...] there’s scant law on free speech and social media blocking, legal scholars note.
Morgan Weiland, an affiliate scholar with Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, says the blocked tweeters’ complaint could air key questions if it ends up in court.