On July 9th, the Second Court of Appeals ruled that President Trump violated First Amendment rights of others by blocking them on Twitter.
Reported by One America News:
'The First Amendment does not permit a public official who utilizes a social media account for all manner of official purposes to exclude persons from an otherwise-open online dialogue because they expressed views with which the official disagrees,' wrote Circuit Judge Barrington Parker, citing several Supreme Court decisions.
Since the court decision used the term “public official,” one congressional candidate has decided to try to apply the same logic to progressive sweetheart Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). YouTube star Joey Saladino -- referred to by his better-known Youtube name, Joey "Salads" -- has filed a lawsuit against Ocasio-Cortez to have himself unblocked from her personal Twitter account which she often utilizes in the political realm.
Saladino says his goal in this lawsuit is to, “See if the standards apply equally to the left and the right.”
Mr. Saladino shared his filing on his YouTube channel which can be seen below.
Former Democratic New York assemblyman Dov Hikind filed a similar lawsuit on Tuesday after Ocasio-Cortez blocked him on Twitter.
"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has blocked me on Twitter yesterday apparently because my critique of her tweets and policies have been too stinging," Hikind said in a statement obtained by Fox News announcing the suit.
He went on to call her a "hypocrite":
It's unclear if Ocasio-Cortez is aware of this ruling or not, but either way, I have decided, after speaking with my legal counsel, to initiate a lawsuit against her for blocking me and a host of other public figures. Ocasio-Cortez is acting cowardly and should be ashamed of her attempts to silence me. I’ve done nothing but address her ignorance and disregard for the truth. She constantly brags about the millions of followers she has but is afraid of my speech. She is a hypocrite.
According to Fox News, "The complaint seeks an injunction against Ocasio-Cortez, a declaration that she violated the First Amendment, and an award of attorney's fees. The complaint focuses on Ocasio-Cortez's popular and active @AOC account, with more than 4.6 million followers."
"Ocasio-Cortez has maintained a much smaller and rarely used official account, @RepAOC, with only 171,000 followers, but has used her personal @AOC account to discuss politics and engage with constituents and colleagues regularly," writes Fox News.