| Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit |
| Full case name | Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University; Rebecca Buckwalter; Philip Cohen; Holly Figueroa; Eugene Gu; Brandon Neely; Joseph Papp; and Nicholas Pappas, Plaintiffs, v. Donald J. Trump, President of the United States; Sean M. Spicer, White House Press Secretary; and Daniel Scavino, White House Director of Social Media and Assistant to the President, Defendants. |
| Argued | March 6, 2019 |
| Decided | July 9, 2019 |
| Citation | 928 F.3d 226 |
| Case history | |
| Appealed to | Trump v. Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University |
| Holding | |
| A social media account used by an American political leader is a public forum. | |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Barrington D. Parker, Peter W. Hall, Christopher F. Droney |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Parker, joined by a unanimous court |
| Laws applied | |
| First Amendment to the United States Constitution | |
Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump, 928 F.3d 226 (2nd Cir. 2019), is a case at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on the use of social media as a public forum. The plaintiffs, Philip N. Cohen, Eugene Gu, Holly Figueroa O'Reilly, Nicholas Pappas, Joseph M. Papp, Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza, and Brandon Neely, are a group of Twitter users blocked by U.S. President Donald Trump's personal @realDonaldTrump account.[1] They alleged that Twitter constitutes a public forum, and that a government official blocking access to that forum is a violation of the First Amendment. The lawsuit also named as defendants White House press secretary Sean Spicer and social media director Dan Scavino.[2][3][4][5][6]
The plaintiffs were represented by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which itself was a plaintiff in the case.[2][3][4] Though the Knight Institute's Twitter account had not been blocked by Trump,[7] the lawsuit argued that they and other followers of the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account "are now deprived of their right to read the speech of the dissenters who have been blocked".[8] The complaint also argued that posts to the @realDonaldTrump account are "official statements".[9]
- ^ Hutchinson, Bill (May 24, 2018). "Here are the 7 tweets that led to landmark court decision against Trump". ABC News.
- ^ a b Wong, Julia Carrie (July 11, 2017). "Twitter users sue Donald Trump for blocking them over critical comments". The Guardian. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
- ^ a b Savage, Charlie (July 11, 2017). "Twitter Users Blocked by Trump File Lawsuit". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b Neumeister, Larry (July 11, 2017). "Trump sued for blocking some of his critics on Twitter". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
- ^ Knight First Amendment Institute (July 11, 2017). "Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief". Retrieved October 25, 2018.
- ^ Brannon, Valerie C. (June 5, 2018). UPDATE: Sidewalks, Streets, and Tweets: Is Twitter a Public Forum? (PDF). Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
- ^ Abramson, Alana (July 11, 2017). "Donald Trump Blocked These People on Twitter. Now They're Suing Him". Time. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
- ^ Sumagaysay, Levi (July 11, 2017). "Trump sued by people he blocked on Twitter". The Mercury News. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
- ^ Heilweil, Rebecca (July 11, 2017). "Trump Violates First Amendment With Every Twitter User He Blocks, Lawsuit Contends". Forbes. Retrieved July 12, 2017.