Supreme Court Wrestles with Public Officials' Ability to Block Critics on Social Media

wrestled Tuesday with whether public officials can block critics from commenting on their social media accounts, an issue that first arose in a case involving former President Donald Trump.after leaving critical comments on social media accounts belonging to school board members in southern California and a city manager in Port Huron, Michigan, northeast of Detroit.

The cases are part of a term-long focus on the relationship between government and the private digital platforms. Justice Clarence Thomas hinted at coming cases when he described as “the looming elephant in the room” the power of Facebook and other platforms to take down accounts.that prohibit large social media companies from taking down posts because of the views they express. The tech companies said the laws violate their First Amendment rights.

“But he seems to be doing, you know, a lot of government on his Twitter account," Kagan said. "I mean, sometimes he was announcing policies. Even when he wasn’t, I mean, I don’t think a citizen would be able to really understand the Trump presidency, if you will, without any access to all the things that the president said on that account.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, husband of a town manager in the Washington suburbs, said it is “definitely true” that local officials need guidance. The Biden administration is siding with the officials and urging the court to respect the distinction between officials' private and public lives. In these cases, the government doesn't control or operate the accounts, the Justice Department said.

The justices lobbed one hypothetical question after another at the six lawyers who argued before them Tuesday. Justice Amy Coney Barrett stopped herself midway through one offering, after she said one of her law clerks could start posting “the official business of the Barrett chambers” on social media.

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