- The White House is asking the Supreme Court to reverse a 2019 ruling that President Trump banned from blocking users who criticized him from his personal Twitter account, a move that said it was a violation of the First Amendment .
- According to a petition issued Thursday, the White House claims that Trump’s presence on his personal profile, @realDonaldTrump, is “independent of his presidential office.”
- The White House’s request comes as Trump’s feud with Twitter continues after the recent fact-checking of his tweets on social media.
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The White House is asking the Supreme Court to return a 2019 court order that President Donald Trump forbade people to block on Twitter, as CNBC first reported.
The petition in court Thursday claims that Trump’s use of his personal Twitter account and its functionality, including the ability to block users, is “independent of his presidency.”
“Blocking third-party accounts from interacting with the @realDonaldTrump account is a purely personal action that does not create a ‘right or privilege created by the state,'” Attorney General Jeffrey Wall wrote in the petition. The announcement also claims that the order should be reversed, as he will be able to block Twitter users from his account once he leaves the office.
Trump had in the past blocked Twitter users criticizing him as his policy, but has also used his personal account to tweet news and official government information. In March 2018he seconded, for example, that CIA Director Mike Pompeo would take over as Secretary of State.
The president’s actions on the site informed the Federal Court of Appeal’s ruling last year that it forbade it from blocking critics who found it to be in conflict with the First Amendment as an official who opposed anyone. perspective blocked. If the statement were reversed, Trump could block Twitter users on his personal account, @realDonaldTrump, not his official account, @POTUS. Blocked users can not view the tweets on their author’s Twitter page or comment on them.
If the Supreme Court agrees to take the case, it probably would not do so until October, according to CNBC. But it would come to a decision by June 2021, well after the 2020 presidential election.
The move is another example of how heavily Trump has used the social media platform during his presidency. He recently took to Twitter when the site issued a warning on one of Trump’s tweets, saying it violated its “glorifying violence” policy. Another fact check issued by Twitter allowed Trump to issue an executive order that has broad implications for companies on social media.
