On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a ruling from a lower court that accused former President Donald Trump of violating the First Amendment by blocking seven Twitter followers from his account.
The case was brought after lawyers from the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University sued on behalf of the seven individuals he blocked during his presidency in May and June of 2017.
The lawyers wrote in the court papers that the President’s account, @realDonaldTrump, “functions as an official source of news and information about the government, and as a forum for speech by, to, and about the President.”
A district court argued that Trump’s action of blocking followers excluded the people from a public forum based on their viewpoints, which violated the First Amendment of free speech.
The high court dismissed the case because Trump is no longer in office, and therefore, the case is no longer live.
Trump’s account on Twitter and other social media platforms continue to be banned after the insinuation of the Capitol riots on January 6.
