RantCrush Top 5: July 12, 2017

A group of Twitter users that President Donald Trump has blocked on the social media platform has filed a lawsuit against the president, saying that his Twitter account is like a digital town hall and should be available to everyone. According to the tweeters, who are represented by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, by blocking them from expressing their feedback, Trump is violating their First Amendment rights.

However, legal experts are debating how to interpret the law. Some said that Trump’s Twitter account is personal, not official, and that all Twitter users have the option to block people. The information is still visible for anyone to see, if a blocked user logs in with a different account or sees the tweet somewhere else, like in an online article. The only thing that a “block” prevents is replies from the individual’s personal account. But supporters of the lawsuit argue that Trump also makes important announcements on Twitter, and his tweets are constantly referred to in the news, so they should be available for everyone.

Update: since we are still #blockedbyTrump, we filed a lawsuit against @POTUS yesterday.https://t.co/OHS2mzhnLf#WednesdayWisdom https://t.co/7HGLP8AnF1

— Holly O’Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) July 12, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.