Can Twitter legally bar Trump? The First Amendment says yes
Adam Liptak, New York Times
Jan. 9, 2021
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This Friday, Jan. 8, 2021 image shows the suspended Twitter account of President Donald Trump. On Friday, the social media company permanently suspended Trump from its platform, citing risk of further incitement of violence. (AP Photo/Tali Arbel)Tali Arbel / Associated Press
WASHINGTON When Simon & Schuster canceled its plans this week to publish Sen. Josh Hawley’s book, he called the action “a direct assault on the First Amendment.”
And when Twitter permanently banned President Donald Trump’s account Friday, his family and his supporters said similar things. “We are living Orwell’s 1984,” Donald Trump Jr. said on Twitter. “Free-speech no longer exists in America.”
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Rain and snow showers this evening transitioning to snow showers overnight. Low 32F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precip 40%. Updated: April 14, 2021 @ 6:24 pm
The British judge who blocked Julian Assange s extradition to the United States on Monday was persuaded by psychiatric testimony indicating a substantial risk that the WikiLeaks founder would kill himself in response to the harsh conditions he is apt to face in U.S. custody. Although she was much less impressed by the argument that Assange s prosecution for violating the Espionage Act threatens freedom of the press, that danger is just as real.
Westminster Magistrates Court Judge Vanessa Baraitser accepted the Justice Department s assurance that imprisoning someone for publishing information the government does not want the public to see is consistent with freedom of expression. She emphasized that Assange is accused of posting unexpurgated documents without regard to the danger that could pose to U.S. informants in Afghanistan.