If an elected official blocks someone on Twitter, do courts say it's a First Amendment violation?
Multiple federal courts have ruled that elected officials cannot block people on social media because they criticize or disagree with the official. In a 2019 ruling, an appeals court ruled that President Trump could not ban people from following his Twitter account simply because they had been critical of him. The court reasoned that because the President utilizes his account as a means of official communication, it must be accessible to all. President Trump has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court; if the court decides to hear the case it's unlikely to make a ruling until next year.
In a similar case, Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was sued for blocking critics on her Twitter account. She has since unblocked the users and apologized.
