Blocked By POTUS: Twitter Users Suing Trump Demand He Unblock Them

Individuals who were blocked by President Trump on Twitter demanded Tuesday that he unblock them while the legal process continues.

The seven people sent a letter to a U.S. District Court judge in New York saying they plan to ask the court to order Trump to unblock them, according to the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which backed the individuals and uploaded the document.

Read: DJI: US Army Won't Say Why It Banned Our Drones, Products

“Defendant’s action impede plaintiffs from viewing the president’s statements on Twitter, from responding to them, and from discussing and debating them with others who subscribe to @realdonaldtrump,” the individuals said in the letter. “Without preliminary relief, Plaintiffs will continue to suffer irreparable injury to their First Amendment rights during the pendency of this litigation.”

The plaintiffs, who were blocked by the president’s personal account, sued Trump and two other White House aides last month. The suit, filed in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, claims blocking the plaintiffs from the @realdonaldtrump account infringes their First Amendment rights, since Trump’s tweets are considered official statements.

In the lawsuit, the individuals argued that Trump made it clear that his tweets using his personal account should be taken as official statements, citing a tweet in which the president said his use of social media was “MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL.”

The plaintiffs also pointed out the National Archives and Records Administration told the White House that tweets using @realDonaldTrump, like the those from @POTUS, are considered officials statements. Those comments are preserved under the Presidential Records Act.

Read: USDA Emails Suggested Employees Not To Use 'Climate Change,' But 'Weather Extremes'

The lawsuit claims Trump is violating the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights when he blocks them from @realdonaldtrump, since the account is viewed as a public forum.

“We hope the court will order the president and his aides to restore our clients’ access to this forum while the suit proceeds,” Katie Fallow, a senior staff attorney at the Knight Institute, said in a statement. “Allowing this First Amendment violation to continue risks normalizing it.”

The plaintiffs were blocked by Trump after criticizing him on social media.

One of the plaintiffs, Rebecca Buckwalter, was blocked after she responded to a tweet in which Trump said: “Sorry folks, but if I would have relied on the Fake News of CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS washpost or nytimes, I would have had ZERO chance winning WH.”

She replied: “To be fair you didn’t win the WH: Russia won it for you.” Her reply got thousands of likes and retweets and was blocked shortly afterwards.

The Knight First Amendment Institute was not blocked by the president but represented the plaintiffs.

“The technology is new, but the legal principle is well-settled,” Jameel Jaffer, the Knight Institute’s executive director, said in a statement. “Government officials can’t exclude people from a public forum simply because they disagree with their views. This principle applies to official social media accounts for the same reasons it applies to city council meetings and open school board meetings.”