Thursday, March 8, 2018

Anti-Trumpers May Destroy Social Media

Keeping with yesterday's theme, which was disagreeing with liberals actions but hoping they succeed anyway, we have this article today from the Chicago Tribune: A judge may soon decide if Trump should unblock people on Twitter.
Seven people who are suing President Donald Trump after they were blocked from his popular @realDonaldTrump Twitter account will soon have their day in court, in a case that questions whether government officials can impede critics online.
On Thursday, a federal judge in New York will hear oral arguments from a group of Twitter users - including a college professor and a police officer - who allege that the president violated their First Amendment rights. Trump blocked the users after they criticized him or his policies, sometimes using video clips and insults.
The Knight First Amendment Institute, which is representing the seven plaintiffs, will argue that Trump's Twitter account is a public forum, and that his actions violate the constitutional rights of the users. By blocking people because of their critical viewpoints, the plaintiffs' are stripped of their ability to participate in that forum, according to the Knight Center. What's more, the plaintiffs argue, other Americans are denied the ability to read and engage with dissenting voices, effectively distorting the shape of public debate.
This falls into the usual pattern of behavior from the left we've witnessed the past couple years: they will rush headlong into blunders in their zeal to "get Drumpf." What if the judge rules in the plaintiffs' favor? You can almost hear the gloating now. The smug late-night hosts strutting around like proud peacocks. The Twitterazzi basking in the glow of what they would treat as some sort of personal victory. They would have their fifteen minutes of fun, but such a ruling would be a godsend to conservative voices. It's worth repeating the key argument from the lawsuit:
Trump's Twitter account is a public forum, and his actions violate the constitutional rights of the users. By blocking people because of their critical viewpoints, the plaintiffs' are stripped of their ability to participate in that forum.
It's hard to understate the impact such verdict would have, when thousands of conservative voices have been stripped of their ability to participate in public forums. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and the rest would be flooded with lawsuits overnight, backed by legal precedent. Note that it's not even the official potus Twitter account at question, but Trump's personal account. That means any politician who had blocked users could be sued, or media outlets and reporters, universities, or corporations the blocked any dissidents...the possibilities are endless! Sadly, because it's his personal Twitter account, the judge is likely to throw out the suit. (But let's keep our fingers crossed.) If Trump has not banned anyone from the official Twitter account, he should immediately do so to bait the left into a glorious Pyrrhic victory.

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