Following a federal court ruling against President Donald Trump (R) that said it is unconstitutional for him to block Twitter users, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop is following suit: exclaiming that he has voluntarily unblocked all of his critics on social media.Â
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I’ve officially unblocked anyone that was ever blocked from seeing my social media accounts – Anti-semites, racists, trolls, fake accounts, former family members, ppl that hate Jersey City – all are welcome now,” he tweeted.
“I may not like u personally but the law is the law. @realDonaldTrump”
U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buckwold, of the Southern District of New York, ruled that Twitter is protected as free speech.
” … We hold that the speech in which they seek to engage is protected by the First Amendment and that the President and Scavino exert governmental control over certain aspects of the @realDonaldTrump account, including the interactive space of the tweets sent from the account,” the 75-page ruling says.
“That interactive space is susceptible to analysis under the Supreme Court’s forum doctrines, and is properly characterized as a designated public forum. The viewpoint-based exclusion of the individual plaintiffs from that designated public forum 1s proscribed by the First Amendment and cannot be justified by the President’s personal First Amendment interests.”
Back in October, The Jersey Journal highlighted that Fulop had faced criticism for blocking people who posted negative commentary on his Twitter and Facebook pages.
