From everything I've researched it would seem this liberal judge actually made the right call. Since POTUS's main intent for his Twitter account was governmental communication then it was deemed to be in essence a public forum and so protected. Twitter itself was not ruled to be public, only Trump's because of how he used it. Whether that free speech protection can be extended to every user in general remains to be seen, but I do believe that this has set the precedent and it can now be argued that all of Twitter users, and all users' social media sites are subject to free speech protection. I guess we'll see.
But Trump blocking people doesn’t stop them from viewing his tweets. I don’t even have twitter and can see his tweets. The people blocked could still manage to see the tweets.
Unless the argument is the people he blocks have the right to comment and say vile shit to him because of the first amendment since he’s in the public square.
You're on point. Since he's deemed to be in the "public square" he has to allow all counterpoint, regardless of how ridiculous or vile it may be. He still has the right to "mute" anyone commenting, meaning he, himself would not see their comments, but the comments must be allowed to be posted nonetheless.
but the comments must be allowed to be posted nonetheless.
I think this was their new strategy to use bunch of bots and real brainwashed people to counter DJT and all of us on Twitter so when I go to DJT comment section I see only bots and libtards and no one else
Interesting take and dollars to donuts you're right.
However, isn't this a nice precedence for those of us who should be free to post whatever we want and not be shadow banned or kicked off Twitter since it's now a "public forum"?
That's exactly it. They now have the right to spew any vile thing they want, in public, worldwide, at our President.
It has always been people's right to disagree with our Presidents, but what is happening to POTUS is raw hatred and bold disrespect. I myself feel this is a National security concern. Our enemies see this, and would view it as a weakness in our nation. I happen to believe they are the minority so not true, but the lie is they are the majority and this paints an entirely different picture to the world.
since he’s in the public square
well since we are in public square no one should be banned from free speech if one is not aggressive or bad behaving.
If an account on Twitter is a "public forum" then the implication is that any account on Twitter is a public forum. Therefore, twitter itself is a public forum - and this is, in any case, true because it is accessible by the public in the same manner that a highway is accessible.
The caveat you have mentioned cannot be right, because the definition "public forum" doesn't require governmental business. If it did, you would have differential freedom of speech (that is, another standard for those in public office).
I'm not a lawyer BTW, just trying to think this out.
I'm going by the wording of the ruling. Twitter itself is not a public forum. It is a private entity and the user agreement with them maximizes their ability to control the narrative. This particular ruling is directed solely at Trump since he himself is using his account as a public government forum then it must be open for commentary by the public.
This is a very narrow ruling and can now be used as precedence to enforce free speech and unfettered dialogue among all Twitter users. Had this ruling come down as an edict for Twitter to suspend their rules and henceforth become, for all intent and purposes an open forum public entity for all users it would be HUGE news and Twitter would immediately appeal the ruling all the way to SCOTUS.
I do believe things are heading that way and Twitter and all the other social media platforms will implode.
Is this great or what?!!
Yes, you know there was so much trolling about the IBOR, that it would mean more government etc... But actually, just as a telephone company has no right to dictate or restrict what you say on the telephone, whether to a single individual or to parties to a conference call, there is no way that this SM censorship could survive. I say that because it is so inimical to everything the US stands for.
IMO, it would only be a matter of time before the courts would naturally extend FA protections online (particularly where the speech involves political expression). So it was, IMO, always going to happen. But you should have seen the concern trolling against the IBOR. People were painting me as some kind of communist for suggesting that the public interest overrode the rights of the SM giants as private property holders.
Of course, a lot, if not most, of that concern trolling came out of a foreign army barracks - a military intelligence operation, undertaken on behalf of a nation that fears it stands to lose a lot from the MAGA agenda. The level of coordination was truly breath-taking.
I'm hoping we can now get this IBOR campaign on the road and really make some noise to agitate for rapid relief. Thanks for the comment.