Did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez break the law by blocking The Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra on Twitter? The answer to that is, yes she did.
Just ask President Trump Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, you did in fact just break the law.
A federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump’s practice of blocking his critics on Twitter violates the First Amendment. The practice is unconstitutional, Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald wrote in her 75-page decision, because the @realdonaldtrump Twitter account is a public forum operated by the government, meaning viewpoint discrimination is strictly prohibited.
Guess what Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, your account is also under that very same category as ran by the “government.”
While the case has drawn attention for its ties to the Tweeter-in-chief, legal scholars say it has far-reaching implications, protecting all Americans’ rights to communicate with elected leaders and government entities online.
“This is a really important contribution,” says Danielle Citron, a law professor at the University of Maryland and author of the book Hate Crimes in Cyberspace.
Congressman Devin Nunes, who’s suing Twitter for $250,000,000 for violating the rights of conservatives across America for censorship chimed in late Friday night.
Judge Buchwald’s decision explains how the case hinges on two crucial questions: Whether a public official can block people on Twitter in response to their political views without violating their First Amendment rights, and whether it matters when the person doing the blocking is the President.
“The answer to both questions is no,” Buchwald wrote. “No government official—including the President—is above the law,” she continued.
So let the fun begin, I believe this will only be the beginning of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s lawsuits.
Note: It’s also important to point out that just next week a federal appeals panel will be looking to see if President Trump has the right to block people on Twitter. Hang in there AOC, you might have to unfortunately back up the President to get out of this one.
