Written By: William C. Besl Jr.
In high school, it was always a huge deal when someone “subtweeted” about a friend or even blocked their frenemy of the week. High school only lasts four years, but some people never grow out of it as seen in a case brought against an elected official in February. Missouri state representative Cheri Reisch blocked her constituent Mike Campbell after he retweeted a post condemning Reisch for accusing her opponent of being unpatriotic when the opponent put her hand behind her back during the national anthem.[1]
Most twitter disagreements are settled in the school halls, but the Western District of Missouri court will settle this issue. In Campbell v. Reisch, the court is less concerned with drama and more focused on the constitutional issues raised when an elected official essentially refuses to hear the opinion of a constituent. The case is still pending after Reisch’s motion to dismiss was denied in early February.[2]
The case primarily raises First Amendment freedom of speech concerns, but also addresses whether Representative Reisch acted under her elected authority when tweeting.[3] In response to these concerns, some have asked Twitter to step in and make a special verification symbol for elected officials and make it impossible to block individuals from that account.[4] Another suggestion is that Twitter should simply ban all politicians from its website.[5] Many may agree with this rather drastic measure after having to watch President Trump’s disaster of a Twitter feed for the past three years.
Last year, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University sued President Donald Trump in the Southern District of New York.[6] This case raised the same First Amendment concerns as in Campbell.[7] The court awarded declaratory judgment ordering President Trump to unblock the plaintiffs, and it is now on appeal at the Second Circuit.[8] It is likely that Representative Reisch’s case will turn out the same.
With social media becoming ever more engrained in the political process, the heads of these networking platforms need to address these First Amendment concerns before the 2020 election cycle.
[1] Campbell v. Reisch, No. 2:18-CV-04129-BCW, 2019 WL 57433 (W.D. Mo. Feb. 8, 2019).
[2] Id. at 7.
[3] Id. at 2.
[4] Eric Goldman, Another Politician Probably Violated the First Amendment By Blocking a Constituent on Twitter, Technology & Marketing Law Blog (Feb. 16, 2019), https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2019/02/another-politician-probably-violated-the-first-amendment-by-blocking-a-constituent-on-twitter-campbell-v-reisch.htm.
[5] Id.
[6] See Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University v. Trump, 302 F.Supp.3d 541 (S.D.N.Y. 2018).
[7] Id. at 549.
[8] Id. at 579.
