Judge rules that Donald Trump CANNOT block critics on Twitter because he is the President

Donald Trump is a big fan of Twitter but he’s not so much of a fan of people having a go at him on there.

Like a lot of people, the President has taken to blocking people who criticise him – but he’s going to have to unblock them after a judge ruled he is violating the First Amendment.

In the ruling, Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald said no government official – including the President – is above the law.

And that means no more blocking critics on Twitter for political speech.

Judge Buchwald said in a written ruling: ‘This case requires us to consider whether a public official may… ’block’ a person from his Twitter account in response to political views that person has expressed, and whether the analysis differs because that public official is the President.

‘The answer to both questions is no.’

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The case was brought last July by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and seven individuals blocked by Mr Trump after criticising the Republican president.

After a hearing this year, the judge had suggested that President Trump mute rather than block some of his critics.

At the time, a Justice Department attorney agreed that muting would enable Trump to avoid a tweet he does not want to read.

Trump’s tweets are a world unto their own but it was reported this week that they may not all be written by him.

According to insiders, White House officials occasionally write out a list of messages for the President to tweet – including deliberate spelling errors so that it appears he wrote them himself.