# Is Twitter-blocking by The President a violation of the 1st Amendment? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 7, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-twitter-blocking-by-the-president-a-violation-of-the-1st-amendment/788366 "2017-06-07T16:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-twitter-blocking-by-the-president-a-violation-of-the-1st-amendment/788366/161 "2017-06-20T13:58:06Z")
> [@HelenTroy](#): > > Knowing how twitter actually works would help in these conversations. It also helps to understand what the actual (potential) claim here is. Once again, it isn’t about Trump not reading people’s tweets, nor is it about people not reading Trump’s tweets. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-twitter-blocking-by-the-president-a-violation-of-the-1st-amendment/788366/162 "2017-06-21T13:56:31Z")
> [@HelenTroy](#): > > Not true. If you are blocked by Trump and reply to someone else replying to his original tweet, it still appears in the conversation related to the original tweet. Let me clarify. If someone on here has you blocked, or whatever the term is I forget, you can still participate in the conversation and everyone else can read it. Same as on twitter. Thank you. What about tweets posted after you’ve been blocked? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-twitter-blocking-by-the-president-a-violation-of-the-1st-amendment/788366/163 "2017-06-21T14:06:32Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Thank you. What about tweets posted after you’ve been blocked? Your tweets posted after you’ve been blocked are visible to everyone in the conversational stream except those who have blocked you. The tweets made by people who have blocked you are visible to you if you log out or switch identities, which is a drop-down menu pick. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-twitter-blocking-by-the-president-a-violation-of-the-1st-amendment/788366/164 "2017-06-21T14:08:14Z")
Sorry, I meant can you still respond to Trump’s post-blocking tweets. I presume not, since apparently you have to be logged out to see them. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-twitter-blocking-by-the-president-a-violation-of-the-1st-amendment/788366/165 "2017-06-21T14:43:19Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Sorry, I meant can you still respond to Trump’s post-blocking tweets. I presume not, since apparently you have to be logged out to see them. You can reply to anyone else’s reply in the stream and enter the conversation that way. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-twitter-blocking-by-the-president-a-violation-of-the-1st-amendment/788366/166 "2017-06-21T14:48:49Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Sorry, I meant can you still respond to Trump’s post-blocking tweets. I presume not, since apparently you have to be logged out to see them. You have to be logged out of the account that has been blocked, but you can be logged in on additional accounts and respond using that ID. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-twitter-blocking-by-the-president-a-violation-of-the-1st-amendment/788366/167 "2017-07-12T13:18:59Z")
Formal lawsuit filed: [Trump sued by blocked Twitter users](http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/11/technology/trump-twitter-user-lawsuit/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-twitter-blocking-by-the-president-a-violation-of-the-1st-amendment/788366/168 "2018-05-23T19:54:35Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Formal lawsuit filed: [Trump sued by blocked Twitter users](http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/11/technology/trump-twitter-user-lawsuit/index.html) [District court opinion on the matter.](https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000163-8e16-dd91-abe7-8f3f5f050001) It’s a Politico PDF - can’t find the court sourced opinion at the moment. Plaintiffs prevail, Trump’s twitter account deemed public forum and blocking users ruled unconstitutional on 1st amendment grounds. Not sure how likely appeal would be. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-twitter-blocking-by-the-president-a-violation-of-the-1st-amendment/788366/169 "2018-05-23T20:05:00Z")
Thank you for the update. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-twitter-blocking-by-the-president-a-violation-of-the-1st-amendment/788366/170 "2018-05-23T20:29:51Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Not sure how likely appeal would be. Somewhere between “sun coming up in the morning” and “if I let go of a hammer on a planet that has a positive gravity, I need not see it fall to know that it has in fact fallen.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-twitter-blocking-by-the-president-a-violation-of-the-1st-amendment/788366.md?page=8)