WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Supreme Court indicated Monday that it isn’t interested in how former President Donald Trump got along – or didn’t– with any of his 89 million Twitter followers until the site removed his account earlier this year.
The justices dismissed as moot a high-profile case about whether Trump was on solid legal ground when he blocked several of his critics on his once-favorite social media website, effectively overturning a federal appeals court ruling that found Trump’s actions violated the First Amendment.
Both parties in the lawsuit agreed that the case is now moot because Trump is no longer president and no longer has access to Twitter. Following a riot at the United States Capitol following a rally held by the then-president near the White House, the company permanently suspended his account in January.
However, the blocked Twitter users asked the justices to leave the ruling from the New York-based United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in place as a guidepost for future government officials. The court declined to do so without providing a detailed explanation.
Trump tweeted frequently, sometimes more than 100 times per day, from the @realDonaldTrump account. He had tweeted over 58,000 times since starting the account, an average of about 14 per day. His baseless allegations of election fraud have been typical of late, a theme he began following President Barack Obama’s reelection in 2012 and amplified after losing to Biden. The Trump administration tweeted less frequently from the @POTUS account, which belongs to the US government rather than Trump and has been transferred to the Biden administration.
Forum
“Trump uses his account to speak to the public, not to provide a forum for members of the public to speak to him and among themselves,” Wall wrote.
Trump’s personal account
“Denying him the ability to exclude third-party accounts from Trump personal account – an ability that every other owner of a Twitter account possesses – would discourage holders of his office from using new technology to efficiently communicate to a large public audience.”
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