Judge Rules Public Officials (in case against President Trump) Can't Block Twitter Users

[ABX]

This case requires us to consider whether a public official
may, consistent with the First Amendment, “block” a person from
his Twitter account in response to the political views that person
has expressed, and whether the analysis differs because that public
official is the President of the United States.  The answer to
both questions is no. .......


Court ruling here- https://knightcolumbia.org/sites/default/files/content/Cases/Wikimedia/2018.05.23%20Order%20on%20motions%20for%20summary%20judgment.pdf

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Stupid decision.  President should defy it.

The First Amendment bars Congress from making a law that abridges freedom of speech.  You could extend that to executive actions that involve authority granted by Congress.  But Twitter is a private account for which the President's usage is no different than that of any other citizen.  There is no shred of government action/authority involved in blocking a user -- it is purely a right being exercised by the President himself that is open to any other citizen.

If it was a government account, rather than his personal account, that might be different.  But it isn't.

[ABX]

Stupid decision.  President should defy it.

The First Amendment bars Congress from making a law that abridges freedom of speech.  You could extend that to executive actions that involve authority granted by Congress.  But Twitter is a private account for which the President's usage is no different than that of any other citizen.  There is no shred of government action/authority involved in blocking a user -- it is purely a right being exercised by the President himself that is open to any other citizen.

If it was a government account, rather than his personal account, that might be different.  But it isn't.

Section B covers this. It was one of the important points as he was using official Federal Government staff to help maintain this and the he (someone, probably a staffer) updated the registration to be the 'official account of the 45th President' (paraphrased) it went from being a private account to a federally operated one. As it is federal staff running it, it is using federal dollars, allocated by congress.

You probably would be right if this were truly a 100% private account, but it wasn't. Probably through lack of foresight, the President made it official in practice and expense.