# Trump can't block critics on Twitter **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817 "2019-07-10T03:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [July 10, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/1 "2019-07-10T03:02:02Z")
A Federal appeals court just ruled that [Trump cannot block people from his Twitter account just because the criticize him or mock him.](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/us/politics/trump-twitter-first-amendment.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage) > [@](#): > > President Trump has been violating the Constitution by blocking people from following his Twitter account because they criticized or mocked him, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The ruling could have broader implications for how the First Amendment applies to the social-media era. > Because Mr. Trump uses Twitter to conduct government business, he cannot exclude some Americans from reading his posts — and engaging in conversations in the replies to them — because he does not like their views, a three-judge panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, ruled unanimously. And it’s not just Trump: > [@](#): > > The First Amendment prohibits an official who uses a social media account for government purposes from excluding people from an “otherwise open online dialogue” because they say things that the official finds objectionable, Judge Parker wrote. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/2 "2019-07-10T03:22:47Z")
I just bumped the original GQ thread with this news. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/3 "2019-07-10T03:31:10Z")
Of course He can block them. Laws don’t apply to Him. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/4 "2019-07-10T03:32:21Z")
Good. I wonder in Twitter already has something embedded in the software that allows them to turn off the block button on specific users? Or, are they going to have to write something specifically for Trump? Or are we just gonna have to trust Trump will honor the court order? (lol) ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/5 "2019-07-10T04:33:17Z")
Will this apply to accounts that can reasonably identified as bots or socks? The next SCOTUS challenge. Bots are people too! ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/6 "2019-07-10T04:41:37Z")
Apparently now some users are suing AOC for the same thing after being blocked by her, citing this ruling. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/7 "2019-07-10T04:48:35Z")
Please explain to me what “being blocked” entails? And, can a good laxative help? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/8 "2019-07-10T05:01:11Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Will this apply to accounts that can reasonably identified as bots or socks? > > The next SCOTUS challenge. Bots are people too! Presumably those violate the Twitter terms of service and are best handled by Twitter. Mr. Trump is free to report on bots himself, and I see no reason Twitter can’t provide a point man to handle such inquiries. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/9 "2019-07-10T05:04:37Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Please explain to me what “being blocked” entails? And, can a good laxative help? Think of it like a public forum, the building. Mr. Trump’s twitter account is like a corner of the forum, Mr. Trump is on the pedestal and various people are sitting around, having quiet conversations among themselves. Sometimes Mr. Trump replies to the audience, but they outnumber him and most of the time he just ignores them. Conveniently, no matter how loud the audience is Mr. Trump can always be heard because it’s his corner and he has the pedastal. Now when Mr. Trump blocks someone on Twitter, that means that person is kicked out of his corner of the forum. They can still hear Mr. Trump, but Mr. Trump can’t hear them. Neither can any of the audience members in Mr. Trump’s corner hear the blocked person unless they get up and leave Mr. Trump’s corner. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/10 "2019-07-11T19:49:41Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Think of it like a public forum, the building. Mr. Trump’s twitter account is like a corner of the forum, Mr. Trump is on the pedestal and various people are sitting around, having quiet conversations among themselves. Sometimes Mr. Trump replies to the audience, but they outnumber him and most of the time he just ignores them. Conveniently, no matter how loud the audience is Mr. Trump can always be heard because it’s his corner and he has the pedastal. > > Now when Mr. Trump blocks someone on Twitter, that means that person is kicked out of his corner of the forum. They can still hear Mr. Trump, but Mr. Trump can’t hear them. Neither can any of the audience members in Mr. Trump’s corner hear the blocked person unless they get up and leave Mr. Trump’s corner. > > ~Max Thanks, but I’m not asking for an analogy. I’m asking about Twitter itself, as I know nothing of how Twitter works. What does it mean that Trump has blocked people on Twitter? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/11 "2019-07-11T20:00:13Z")
> [@pool](#): > > Apparently now some users are suing AOC for the same thing after being blocked by her, citing this ruling. Unless AOC also uses social media for official government business, those users don’t have a leg to stand on. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/12 "2019-07-11T20:25:45Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Thanks, but I’m not asking for an analogy. I’m asking about Twitter itself, as I know nothing of how Twitter works. What does it mean that Trump has blocked people on Twitter? Oh, sorry. This is alluded to in the OP: > [@](#): > > he cannot exclude some Americans from reading his posts — and engaging in conversations in the replies to them When Mr. Trump makes a posting through the Twitter service, or “tweets” in common parlance, [DEL]members of the public[/DEL] other Twitter users are allowed to then comment on his post or on eachother’s comments to that post. If Mr. Trump blocks a user, 1) that user cannot directly view Mr. Trump’s posts while signed in, 2) that user cannot directly view other user’s comments on Mr. Trump’s posts while signed in, 3) that user cannot comment directly in response to Mr. Trump’s posts, and 4) that user cannot receive notifications when Mr. Trump makes a new post. I say directly because there is a feature called “re-tweeting” whereby a user can put Mr. Trump’s tweet on their own feed. I don’t think users blocked by Mr. Trump can do this, but those users can see other users’ re-tweets and comments from other users’ feeds and activity logs. ETA: [How to block accounts on X](https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/blocking-and-unblocking-accounts) ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/13 "2019-07-11T20:28:40Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > What does it mean that Trump has blocked people on Twitter? From the court case: > [@](#): > > The platform also allows users to directly interact with each other. For example, User A can “mention” User B in User A’s tweet, prompting a notification to User B that he or she has been mentioned in a tweet. Twitter users can also “follow” one another. If User A follows User B, then all of User B’s tweets appear in User A’s “feed,” which is a continuously‐updated display of content mostly from accounts that User A has chosen to follow. > > Conversely, User A can “block” User B. **This prevents User B from seeing User A’s timeline or any of User A’s tweets. User B, if blocked by User A, is unable to reply to, retweet, or like any of User A’s tweets. Similarly, User A will not see any of User B’s tweets and will not be notified if User B mentions User A.** The dispute in this case exclusively concerns the President’s use of this blocking function. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/14 "2019-07-11T21:00:01Z")
Thanks, **Max S** and **Ravenman**. Very helpful. Next up: I understand there’s something new called “television” that lets you watch talkies at home and have the town news-criers right in your sitting room! I’ll come back here if I have any questions about it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/15 "2019-07-11T22:50:11Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Think of it like a public forum, the building… Even better, think of it like a public forum, such as the Straight Dope Message Boards. Blocking on Twitter is like ignoring on these boards, except users you ignore cannot see any of your posts or threads or any posts in your threads, and all of their previous posts in your threads are removed for everybody. They can still see everything when logged out, and they can still see other people who quote you in other people’s threads. Also they don’t receive subscription notices when you post in a thread they subscribed to. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/16 "2019-07-11T22:59:58Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Unless AOC also uses social media for official government business, those users don’t have a leg to stand on. There’s definitely an argument that she is. Have you seen what she talks about on her [private twitter account](https://twitter.com/AOC)? It’s awash with legislative business. She didn’t even create a separate official/professional [account](https://twitter.com/RepAOC) until last Dec and it’s only seen 45 tweets. Trump’s argument that his only lightly used @POTUS account was the official government business and he could do what he wanted on his personal account didn’t fly. She even made an alliance with Ted Cruz [last month](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/16/alexandria-ocasio-cortezted-cruz-1365858) on Twitter to write and propose a bill limiting former members of Congress from becoming lobbyists. It’s going to be hard to describe that use of her personal account as anything other than government business by a legislator. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/17 "2019-07-11T23:23:34Z")
Yes, I think the AOC case will fall under the goose/gander statute. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/18 "2019-07-11T23:52:40Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Yes, I think the AOC case will fall under the goose/gander statute. I think that’s going to be the case. I look forward to the court deliberations on the “mute” function. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/19 "2019-07-12T00:01:30Z")
Does Twitter not have an “ignore” function he can use? (honestly don’t know, I don’t do Twitter) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817/20 "2019-07-12T00:07:32Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Does Twitter not have an “ignore” function he can use? (honestly don’t know, I don’t do Twitter) Yes, it is called “muting”. If Mr. Trump just didn’t want to read his critics, he could mute them and we would be none the wiser. > **[How to mute accounts on X and what happens after muting](https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/twitter-mute)** > > Learn how to use X's mute feature to remove an account's posts from your timeline without unfollowing or blocking them. ~Max [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-cant-block-critics-on-twitter/836817.md?page=2)