A federal judge suggested Thursday that President Trump not block Twitter users, but mute them instead, The Associated Press reported. The judge's fix apparently came as she evaluated whether the president blocking users he doesn't like infringes on those users' First Amendment rights.
U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald discussed the issue with Trump's lawyer Michael Baer during a Thursday hearing in Manhattan federal court, CNBC reports, after the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed a suit alongside seven people whom Trump has blocked on Twitter.
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Buchwald likened Twitter to a public town hall, where government officials can't silence their constituents just because they disagree, though they can take their microphone away. She suggested that muting users so that they could still see Trump's Twitter feed — which he operates "in an official capacity" — would allow them to continue to see his announcements of "policy or policy proposals," while fulfilling Trump's apparent desire to not hear their criticism.
Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer once confirmed that Trump's tweets should be considered "official statements" from the president, though Baer argued Thursday that the president's tweets don't qualify as "state action."
Buchwald said that if both parties could not reach a settlement soon, she would rule on the case.
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