Seven people from the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University in New York, all of whom have been blocked by Trump after criticizing the president, filed a lawsuit at the Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.

The lawsuit asks a judge to stop Trump and his media team blocking critics following his personal account - @realdonaldtrump - which has 33 million followers, 14 million more than the official US presidential account @POTUS and 19 million more than @WhiteHouse.

They claim that Trump is imposing an unconstitutional restriction on their ability to participate in a public forum. They also claim that access is being curtailed to statements that the government has already made available to the public and that the block hinders petitioning the government for "redress of grievances."

The case raises questions about how to interpret and apply the US constitution in the social media era.

Read more: Trump tweet has internet asking: Wat's a covfefe'?

"The @realDonaldTrump account is a kind of digital town hall in which the president and his aides use the tweet function to communicate news and information to the public, and members of the public use the reply function to respond to the president and his aides and exchange views with one another,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also named as defendants White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Dan Scavino, White House director of social media.

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A new legal frontier

Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, said dozens of people had made statements of support after his organization told the White House three weeks ago it wasn't permitted to block individuals from following the president's @realdonaldtrump account.

"It's fair to say that this is a new frontier," Jaffer said. "The First Amendment principle is well-settled, but the applicability of that principle to this context isn't an issue that the courts have yet had many occasions to address."

Neil Richards, a professor at Washington University's Law school, specializing in First Amendment theory, told Wired news website that determining whether the president's Twitter feed represents a public forum is complicated.

"The law here is famously muddled, because it's trying to prevent the government from discriminating against people who speak on public streets and parks, but it's trying to fight the urge to make everything a public forum," he said.

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Some blocked tweeters

Philip Cohen, a University of Maryland sociology professor, was blocked after he called Trump a "corrupt incompetent authoritarian."

Holly Figueroa, a national political organizer and songwriter, was cut off on May 28 after posting an image of the pope looking incredulously at Trump, along with the statement: "This is pretty much how the whole world sees you," the lawsuit said.

Tweets as official statements

Federal agencies and courts treat Trump's tweets as official statements and the National Archives and Records Administration has advised the White House that the tweets must be preserved under the Presidential Records Act, the lawsuit said.

A federal judge in Washington DC ruled recently that a local official's Facebook account was a public forum under the First Amendment, but higher courts have not yet addressed the issue, Jaffer said.

Skeptics argue that Trump's account is personal, not official, and that he has the right to block people he considers trolls or antagonists.

Dawn Dearden, a spokeswoman for government lawyers, declined to comment.

Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes The good, the bad and the ugly US President Donald Trump has offered both candid praise and unabashed criticism of Germany and its policies. From calling German Chancellor Angela Merkel "possibly the greatest world leader" to describing her open-door refugee policy as a "catastrophic mistake," here are his most memorable quotes regarding Germany.

Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes 'Greatest' "Germany's like sitting back silent, collecting money and making a fortune with probably the greatest leader in the world today, Merkel," Trump said in a 2015 interview with US news magazine Time.

Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes 'Very bad' "The Germans are bad, very bad ... Look at the millions of cars they sell in the US. Terrible. We'll stop that," Trump said during a NATO leaders summit, according to German news magazine Der Spiegel, which cited sources at the alliance's meeting.

Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes 'Something in common' "As far as wiretapping, I guess, by - you know - [the Obama] administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps," Trump said in March during a press conference with Merkel. He was referring to his unproven allegations that ex-President Barack Obama tapped his phone. There was widespread anger in Germany in 2013 when it was revealed the US National Security Agency tapped Merkel's phone.

Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes 'Illegals' "I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals (sic), you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from," Trump said in a joint interview published by German daily Bild and British newspaper The Times, referring to Merkel's open-door policy for refugees fleeing war and persecution.

Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes 'Germany owes vast sums of money' "Despite what you have heard from the fake news, I had a great meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO and the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany," Trump said in a two-tweet statement after meeting with Merkel for the first time in March 2017.

Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes 'Turning their backs' "The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition," Trump tweeted in the midst of a row within the German goverment. He went on to claim that: "Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!" Author: Lewis Sanders IV



jbh/gsw (AP, Reuters)