Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump

Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump, No. 1:17-cv-05205 (S.D.N.Y.) is a lawsuit filed on July 11, 2017 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and decided May 23, 2018. The plaintiffs are a group of Twitter users blocked by U.S. President Donald Trump's personal @realDonaldTrump account. They allege that this account constitutes a public forum, and that blocking access to it is a violation of their First Amendment rights. The lawsuit also names as defendants White House press secretary Sean Spicer and social media director Dan Scavino.[1][2][3][4][5]

Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Full case nameKnight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University; Rebecca Buckwalter; Philip Cohen; Holly Figueroa; Eugene Gu; Brandon Neely; Joseph Papp; and Nicholas Pappas, Plaintiffs, v. Donald J. Trump, President of the United States; Sean M. Spicer, White House Press Secretary; and Daniel Scavino, White House Director of Social Media and Assistant to the President, Defendants.
Date decidedMay 23, 2018
Docket nos.1:17-cv-05205
Plaintiff(s)Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
Rebecca Buckwalter
Philip Cohen
Holly Figueroa
Eugene Gu
Brandon Neely
Joseph Papp
Nicholas Pappas
Defendant(s)Donald Trump
Sean Spicer
Daniel Scavino

The plaintiffs are represented by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which itself is a plaintiff in the case.[1][2][3] Though the Knight Institute's Twitter account has not been blocked by Trump,[6] the lawsuit argues that they and other followers of the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account "are now deprived of their right to read the speech of the dissenters who have been blocked".[7] The complaint also argues that posts to the @realDonaldTrump account are "official statements".[8]

Background

On Twitter, blocked users cannot see or respond to tweets from the account that blocked them. As of July 2017, the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account had 33.7 million followers.[9][10] Trump's tweets are often retweeted tens of thousands of times, and Trump frequently uses Twitter to make policy statements.[11] In June 2017, Spicer stated that Trump's tweets are considered "official statements by the president of the United States". In July 2017, Trump tweeted that his use of social media is "MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL".[9][10] Another lawsuit, CREW and National Security Archive v. Trump and EOP was filed in the District of Columbia, alleging violations of the Presidential Records Act for deleting tweets.

A month prior to filing this lawsuit, the Knight Institute had sent a letter to Trump on behalf of two of the blocked Twitter users, asking that they and other blocked users have their accounts unblocked by Trump. The letter argued that Trump's personal Twitter account is a public forum, and that it is therefore unconstitutional to exclude dissenting views. The letter was copied to Spicer, Scavino, and White House counsel Don McGahn.[2][12] The Trump administration has not responded to the letter.[7] Knight First Amendment Institute won the 2020 Webby People’s Voice Award for Law in the category Web.[13]

Analysis and criticism

In response to critics who question whether Twitter should be considered a public forum, Knight Institute senior attorney Katie Fallow cited a June 19, 2017 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Packingham v. North Carolina, in which Justice Anthony Kennedy described social media as "the modern public square" and as one of the most important places for the exchange of views. The ruling, which was unanimous, struck down a North Carolina law that prohibited registered sex offenders from accessing social media sites.[1]

Later developments

The Complaint was filed July 11, 2017.[4] The Plaintiffs' reply was filed on December 1, 2017.[14] Oral arguments were heard before Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald on March 9, 2018.[15]

On May 23, 2018, Buchwald granted in part and denied in part the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, ruling that Trump blocking people on Twitter is unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds. The court ruled that the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account is "a presidential account as opposed to a personal account", and blocking people from it violates their rights to participate in a "designated public forum".[16] Buchwald introduced the decision by writing:

This case requires us to consider whether a public official may, consistent with the First Amendment, “block” a person from his Twitter account in response to the political views that person has expressed, and whether the analysis differs because that public official is the President of the United States. The answer to both questions is no.[17]

In August 2018, the government filed an appeal brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.[18] In October 2018, the plaintiffs filed their appeal brief in response.[19] Oral argument was heard March 26, 2019.[20] The Second Circuit issued its decision on July 9, 2019, upholding Judge Buchwald's opinion.[21] The Second Circuit determined that Trump used his Twitter to conduct official government business, and therefore, he cannot block Americans from the account on the basis of their political views.[22][23] The government was denied an en banc review by the full Second Circuit in March 2020.[24]

On the day of the Second Circuit's decision, former New York state representative Dov Hikind and candidate Joey Salads separately sued U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez within New York state federal district courts for blocking them from her Twitter account, based on the ruling from the Second Circuit.[25][26]

See also

References
  1. Wong, Julia Carrie (July 11, 2017). "Twitter users sue Donald Trump for blocking them over critical comments". The Guardian. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  2. Savage, Charlie (July 11, 2017). "Twitter Users Blocked by Trump File Lawsuit". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2018.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  3. Neumeister, Larry (July 11, 2017). "Trump sued for blocking some of his critics on Twitter". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  4. Knight First Amendment Institute (July 11, 2017). "Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief". Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  5. Brannon, Valerie C. (June 5, 2018). UPDATE: Sidewalks, Streets, and Tweets: Is Twitter a Public Forum? (PDF). Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  6. Abramson, Alana (July 11, 2017). "Donald Trump Blocked These People on Twitter. Now They're Suing Him". Time. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  7. Sumagaysay, Levi (July 11, 2017). "Trump sued by people he blocked on Twitter". The Mercury News. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  8. Heilweil, Rebecca (July 11, 2017). "Trump Violates First Amendment With Every Twitter User He Blocks, Lawsuit Contends". Forbes. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  9. Blunden, Mark (July 12, 2017). "Donald Trump sued for blocking people on Twitter". Evening Standard. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  10. Pestano, Andrew V. (July 12, 2017). "Advocates sue Trump for blocking Twitter users". UPI. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  11. Volz, Dustin (July 11, 2017). "U.S. free-speech group sues Trump for blocking Twitter users". Reuters. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  12. Savage, Charlie (June 6, 2017). "Twitter Users Blocked by Trump Seek Reprieve, Citing First Amendment". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2018.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  13. Kastrenakes, Jacob (May 20, 2020). "Here are all the winners of the 2020 Webby Awards". The Verge. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  14. Plaintiff reply Knightcolumbia.org
  15. Allsop, Jon (March 9, 2018). "In downtown New York, a First Amendment fight over Trump's tweets". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on March 9, 2018. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  16. Wolfson, Sam (May 23, 2018). "Donald Trump cannot block anyone on Twitter, court rules". The Guardian. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  17. Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University v. Trump, No. 1:17-cv-05205 (S.D.N.Y. May 23, 2018).
  18. "Government appeal" (PDF). Knightcolumbia.org. August 3, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  19. Appeal brief
  20. http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/6427e26b-1625-4963-ad14-bcafca22a66b/4/doc/18-1691.mp3
  21. Appeal decision
  22. Savage, Charlie (July 9, 2019). "Trump Can't Block Critics From His Twitter Account, Appeals Court Rules". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  23. "Trump violated US constitution by blocking critics on Twitter, federal court rules". The Guardian. July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  24. Spangler, Todd (March 23, 2020). "Donald Trump Violated First Amendment by Blocking Critics on Twitter, Appeals Court Affirms". Variety. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  25. Bowden, John (July 10, 2019). "Ocasio-Cortez sued over Twitter blocks". The Hill. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  26. Ingber, Sasha (July 12, 2019). "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Sued Over Blocking Twitter Followers". NPR. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
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