AOC warned by First Amendment attorneys against blocking folks on Twitter — she says she has every right

AOC warned by First Amendment attorneys against blocking folks on Twitter — she says she has every right

The congresswoman is being taken to task by the same group that sued President Trump and won

 BRECK DUMAS

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has been warned by a group of attorneys from Columbia University that she cannot block people from Twitter because of her capacity as a public official.

The Democratic socialist firebrand is arguing that she has every right to cut off followers who she perceives as harassing her, but the representative from New York is tussling with the same group that successfully sued President Donald Trump over the same issue.

What are the details?

Columbia University's Knight First Amendment Institute sued President Trump and a few other administration officials earlier this year, arguing that the president could not limit users from seeing his social media account because doing so was a violation of the First Amendment.

Just last month, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, despite the president's argument that his @realDonaldTrump handle was his personal account and that he has the freedom to block whomever he wants.

On Wednesday, the Knight First Amendment Institute sent a letter to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, warning the congresswoman that her practice of blocking Twitter users "is unconstitutional," and urging her "to unblock any Twitter users whom you or your staff have blocked from the @AOC account because of the viewpoints they have expressed."

Unsurprisingly, Ocasio-Cortez responded via Twitter, telling the organization, "I have 5.2 million followers. Less than 20 accounts are blocked for ongoing harassment. 0 are my constituents." She added, "Harassment is not a viewpoint. Some accounts, like the Daily Caller, posted fake nude photos of me & abused my comments to spread it. No one is entitled to abuse." (Links added by TheBlaze.)

HotAir's AllahPundit reported on the situation Friday and pointed out, "Bottom line: She's going to lose in court if this ends up there and anyone who's read the Second Circuit opinion would know that." AllahPundit further noted that all Ocasio-Cortez has to do to tune out trolls is to use Twitter's "mute" function, adding, "She's supposed to be the most savvy-social-media user in all of government. How is it that she doesn't understand that this simple solution is available to her?"