 |
| The lawsuit over Trump's Twitter account ends |
On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump's Twitter account after the Justice Department said the end of Trump's term had turned the case into a dead letter.
The case started after 7 people reacted harshly to tweets (which were blocked) posted on the RealDonaldTrump account and prevented them from responding.
The people sued and won in a lower court ruling that preventing others from responding to their opinions was against the First Amendment.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals said: The president's account is a type of public forum that usually includes official affairs for donations from White House employees.
Trump's Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to overturn these decisions.
Government attorneys have said that the president's tweets are sometimes official statements, but that his decision to block individual responses is a personal choice that allows any user to use Twitter.
The Justice Department asked the court to withdraw the lawsuit the day before President Biden was sworn in and to overturn the lower court's decision.
Katie Fallow of The Cavaliers Academy is the "First Amendment" group that represents Twitter users banned by Trump. He asked the judge not to change the decision of the lower court.
"It is now widely accepted that the principles we have laid out on this issue are essential to maintaining the vitality of public forums. The vitality of public forums has become increasingly important to our democracy and has an impact on the use of networks by civil servants. Through the media," she said.
Judge (Clarence Thomas) said: He agreed to dismiss the case on the grounds of futility, but this highlights the problem of applying old principles to new digital platforms that is rarely easy.
In January, Twitter finally blocked Trump's account on the grounds that followers of his group attacked the Capitol to prevent Congress from formally recognizing Biden's election victory, killing five people and then inciting more violence.