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Twitter users block others on the service all the time, in some cases because they are abusive and sometimes just because they're irritating. But is it different if the user doing the blocking happens to be the president of the United States?

The Knight First Amendment Institute says it is different, or at least that it should be. The Institute, a non-profit group associated with Columbia University, has sent a letter to the White House arguing that Trump is breaching the First Amendment rights of those he blocks.

It might seem laughable at first -- and there are some First Amendment experts and supporters who appear to find it so -- but the Institute believes that it has a valid case.

According to the letter, written by Institute director Jameel Jaffer, the president's Twitter account fits the legal definition of a "designated public forum," and as such it can't be closed to public access under the First Amendment.

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In effect, the Institute argues that the law requires Trump make his account available to everyone regardless of whether they criticize him. It has said it is considering pursuing a case against the president on behalf of two users who were blocked by him.

"Though the architects of the Constitution surely didnt contemplate presidential Twitter accounts, they understood that the President must not be allowed to banish views from public discourse simply because he finds them objectionable," Jaffer said in a statement.

"Having opened this forum to all comers, the President cant exclude people from it merely because he dislikes what theyre saying."

Not everyone is buying this argument, however. Ken White, a former assistant U.S. Attorney who writes legal commentary at Popehat and is a First Amendment expert, said that he found the idea of the Institute's case "ridiculous."

Ken Paulson, president of the First Amendment Center, told the Wall Street Journal that the Institute had a "novel and ambitious argument" that was clearly in the public interest. But he also described it as a "tough sell."

Is the presidents Twitter account "a public forum where interactive free expression is expected or more like a newsletter, where the communication is all one way?" Paulson asked. Municipalities that establish Facebook pages and invite citizen input may be creating public forums, "but Im not sure that Donald Trumps brief bursts of opinion are the same thing."

There a number of problems with determining whether Trump's Twitter account is a public forum or not, and one of them stems from the fact that the law is far from settled on the question of what exactly constitutes a truly public forum.

The other complicating factor is that Twitter is a privately-held company, and the president is just behaving in accordance with its terms of service.

The laws relating to free public access to government property were designed to protect the ability of demonstrators, protesters, etc. to speak their mind in public parks and other areas. The extension of this right to any "public forum" didn't occur until a Supreme Court decision in 1972, and from that point things just got more and more complicated.

As University of Florida law professor Lyrissa Lydsky put it in a legal paper on the First Amendment and online forums that was published in 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court's public forum and government speech doctrines are "lacking in coherence -- to put it mildly."

In a nutshell, there are several definitions for public forums, based in part on what the government's intentions were in setting them up in the first place. In a fully public forum, opposing views can't be censored. But a "limited public forum," which has a specific purpose, can be restricted in a variety of ways.

To further complicate things, the government and its representatives are protected from First Amendment rules on such matters if what they are doing is defined by the court as "government speech." If so, then feedback or input or access theoretically can be restricted.

So should Donald Trump's Twitter account be considered a public forum, a limited public forum, or a form of protected government speech?

Comments from press secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday could be pertinent to such a case, because he said that Trump's tweets are considered to be "official statements by the president." That could support the argument that Trump is engaging in government speech, and therefore opposing viewpoints can be restricted without breaching the First Amendment.

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Trump Blocking Twitter Users Is a First Amendment Issue ...

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That was the obsequious question asked by aNew YorkTimes reporter during one of President Barack Obamas first press conferences, in April 2009.

The media were unperturbed by the presidents rough treatment of the Fourth Estate thus far how his campaign hijacked a press plane, with journalists aboard, flying them to Chicago without the candidate; how the campaignattempted to silence a journalist, Stanley Kurtz, when he revealed the truth of Obamas relationship with former Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers; and how Obama aides suggested that the Fairness Doctrine be revived in an effort to shut down vigorous opposition from talk radio.

No Obama was their man, and that was all that needed to be said about press freedom and independence.TheWashington Postgushed overa visit from the President-elect in January 2009:

Barack Obama visited the Washington Post to meet the editorial board and national staff, but his tour of the 5th floor newsroom nearly stopped the presses.

Staff writers, photographers, editors and employees from other departments lined the hallway after word spread that the President-elect would be walking through the newroom.

At about 3:15 p.m., Obama entered through a back hallway and began shaking hands, as professional newsmen and women reached over to shake his hand and take pictures. Obama was trailed by advisor David Axelrod, assistant Reggie Love, Post Chairman Donald Graham, Publisher Katharine Weymouth and Editor Marcus Brauchli.

Throughout the Obama administration, the press did little to stand up for the First Amendment not when Obama froze the White House press pool out of his activities; not when the administration targeted the Associated Press and Fox News reporter James Rosen; not even when President Obama signed the Press Freedom Act but refused to take press questions. Many in the media even cheered Obamas assaults on the First Amendment inCitizens United and Obamacares contraceptive mandate.

So it is difficult, now, to take the mainstreammediaseriously when they warn of dangers to press freedom and the First Amendment from President-elect Trump. As Politico notes, theTimes andWall Street Journaljoined NBC NewsMeet the Press whose host infamously declared the election over on October 8 to express their wariness over the incoming president-elects respect for the First Amendment.

Trump has done nothing to challenge the First Amendment as Hillary Clinton did, directly. He has called for tougher libel laws, such as those that exist in the United Kingdom (alongside a more vigorous opposition press). He has alsofeuded often with journalists,who made no secret of their hostility towards him, andfrequentlydistorted reality in a desperate effort todestroy his campaign.

That is all.

The media will need to be vigilant and vigorous during a Trump administration as they ought to have been during the Obama administration.And it is certainly good news that theTimes, among many other outlets, is finally remembering, after more than eight long years,that part of the medias job is to serve as a check on power.

But guardiansof the First Amendment? Hardly.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the most influential people in news media in 2016. His new book,See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Cant Handle, is available from Regnery through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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Media Suddenly Find Courage to Stand up for First Amendment

First Amendment

Posted Jun 08, 2017 07:00 am CDT

By Debra Cassens Weiss

Shutterstock

A Wisconsin county is fighting a First Amendment lawsuit that challenges its attempt to regulate augmented reality games like Pokmon Go.

In a May 31 motion, Milwaukee County says there is no court precedent giving First Amendment protection to augmented reality games and the suit by app developer Candy Lab should be tossed.

Candy Lab is challenging a county ordinance that requires augmented reality game makers to get a permit before the games can be played in public parks.

Augmented reality technology superimposes computer-generated images on live smartphone video. Candy Lab uses the technology for its Texas Rope Em poker game. Players start with two random cards and must travel to designated locations to collect additional cards.

Candy Labs April 21 suit (PDF) says the Milwaukee County ordinance amounts to a prior restraint on its speech, is unconstitutionally vague, and restricts its speech on the basis of content. The Hollywood Reporter, the Associated Press, Courthouse News Service and the Register have stories.

Milwaukee County counters that Texas Rope Em isnt entitled to First Amendment protection because it doesnt convey any messages or ideas, the dismissal motion (PDF) says. The game has no plot, no storylines, no characters and no dialogue, the county argues.

Nor is there any federal court decision extending First Amendment protection to augmented reality games, the dismissal motion says.

Candy Labs complaint is full of ad hominem attacks on Milwaukee County and colorful allegations about all the ways in which the new ordinance violates its First Amendment rights, the dismissal motion says. But Candy Lab forgets one thing. There can be no First Amendment violation where there is no First Amendment right.

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Does First Amendment protect augmented reality games like Pokmon Go? Suit raises the issue - ABA Journal

New York Times

Twitter Users Blocked by Trump Seek Reprieve, Citing First Amendment New York Times This Twitter account operates as a 'designated public forum' for First Amendment purposes, and accordingly the viewpoint-based blocking of our clients is unconstitutional, the letter said. We ask that you unblock them and any others who have been ... President's Twitter Account Should Not Block Users, First Amendment Lawyers ArgueNBCNews.com White House Twitter Letter FINAL - DocumentCloudDocumentCloud Knight Institute Demands That President Unblock Critics on Twitter | Knight First Amendment InstituteKnight First Amendment Institute DocumentCloud all 258 news articles »

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Twitter Users Blocked by Trump Seek Reprieve, Citing First Amendment - New York Times

The editorial "Standing tall for sneakiness" (June 4) accused me of distorting the First Amendment beyond anything the Founders ever imagined. Have you read it lately? It says, in part, that government shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble. And yet the editorial appears to endorse new laws infringing on our right to privacy to join and support groups.

Perhaps you want to limit the right of elected officials, like Eric Greitens, to raise money for advocacy groups. If so, tread carefully. And certainly dont endorse new laws ensnaring groups independent of elected officials from forming and speaking out on public policy while ensuring their members keep their privacy.

In supporting privacy for these groups, the group I run does not stand alone. We stand with the Supreme Court. In NAACP v. Alabama, the court ruled that government cant force nonprofits to turn over their membership lists. The justices warned that such disclosure may constitute as effective a restraint on freedom of association as (other) forms of governmental action.

In Talley v. California, the high court said disclosure requirements would tend to restrict freedom to distribute information and thereby freedom of expression ... fear of reprisal might deter peaceful discussions of public matters of importance.

Such privacy rights related to speech also protect an independent media. Some elected officials want new laws to punish the press for publishing leaks or quoting anonymous sources. The media, including the Post-Dispatch, need to realize that the First Amendment gives it no more rights than citizens who form groups. Attacking citizen rights to free speech undermines the medias rights to the same.

David Keating Alexandria, Va.

President, Center for Competitive Politics

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First Amendment gives advocacy groups a right to privacy - STLtoday.com