INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Mr Trump - seen through a phone - speaks from the Oval Office at the White
House
US President Donald Trump may not "block" Twitter users from viewing his online profile due to their political
beliefs, a judge in New York has ruled.District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan said that blocking access to his @realDonaldTrump
account would be a violation of the right to free speech.The lawsuit against Mr Trump and other White House officials stems from his
decision to bar several online critics.The White House has yet to comment on the judge's ruling.The case was brought by The Knight First
Amendment Institute at Columbia University on behalf of seven Twitter users who had been blocked by Mr Trump for criticising him or mocking
him online.Image copyright@realDonaldTrump/TwitterImage caption
Mr Trump's Twitter account has steadily grown since
taking over the US presidency
On Wednesday the judge agreed with their argument that the social media platform qualifies as
a "designated public forum" granted to all US citizens."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 judge said in her opinion."The answer to both
questions is no."The judge rejected argument by Mr Trump's lawyers that the "First Amendment does not apply in this case and that the
President's personal First Amendment interests supersede those of plaintiffs".Mr Trump has over 52 million followers on Twitter, his
preferred social media platform which he joined in March 2009
He often eschews the official US presidential Twitter account, @POTUS, as well as his own White House press office, to make official
announcements.One of the people that Mr Trump blocked, Holly O'Reilly, who uses the account @AynRandPaulRyan, was blocked last May after
posting a GIF of Mr Trump meeting with Pope Francis.The photo, which some said showed the Pope glaring at Mr Trump, was captioned: "This is
pretty much how the whole world sees you."Image copyrightTwitterShortly after being blocked, she told Time Magazine that "it's like FDR took
my radio away", referring to Franklin Delano Roosevelt - the World War Two-era president who spoke directly to Americans with his so-called
fireside chats.Earlier in the trial, Judge Buchwald suggested the president, who was not in court, could simply mute the accounts he does
not want to see.People on Twitter are unable to see or respond to tweets from accounts that block them
But if Mr Trump muted an account, he would not see that user's tweets but the user could still see and respond to his.It's unclear if Mr
Trump will now unblock his critics, but the judge hinted the president could face legal action if he did not comply with the ruling.She
wrote that "because all government officials are presumed to follow the law once the judiciary has said what the law is, we must assume that
the President [and his social media director] will remedy the blocking we have held to be unconstitutional".Analysis by Dave Lee,
TheIndianSubcontinent North America technology reporter, San FranciscoWhen it comes to Twitter, the First Amendment grants the American
people the right to speak about the President - but it doesn't force him to listen.While the court has ruled the blocking is
unconstitutional, it said the ability to mute a person was not - and so the safe space nurtured by the president and his social media team
will remain mostly intact
As I type this, he follows just 46 people, mostly family and Fox News presenters.For many of those he blocked, it's become a badge of honour
- a #blockedbytrump topic sprung up as a way of celebrating being shut out by The Donald.But Trump's tweets are a major means by which the
president communicates with his people
However history looks back at what is happening within his administration today, tweets will form a crucial part of that record.And while
some have argued that anyone blocked by Trump can see his tweets by just logging out, that doesn't necessarily give the whole picture
One tweet sent on Wednesday does not appear in the feed for logged-out users, for example, as it is a "reply".Blocking also prevents people
from replying to or quoting what was said.The bigger impact here, however, is that this ruling applies to all public officials in the US
And so it won't just be Mr Trump thumbing through and unblocking those who he deems unsavoury
