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On Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump's official Twitter account began unblocking a select number of previously presidentially blocked users as part of a ruling against the president that said the practice was "unconstitutional."
Back in May, President Trump and his social media director Dan Scavino were ordered by U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald to "unblock" the accounts of the seven plaintiffs (in a lawsuit filed by the Knight First Amendment Institute (KFAI) at Columbia University) who had previously been blocked by the President on Twitter.
Advising him to use the "mute" function on Twitter instead, the federal judge said Trump's blocks were unconstitutional and called his Twitter feed "a public forum" as set forth in doctrines by the Supreme Court which:
...has been used in the course of the appointment of officers (including cabinet secretaries), the removal of officers and the conduct of foreign policy.
Among those who have been blocked by the President are author Stephen King, actor/comedian Rosie O'Donnell and model and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen
Earlier this month, KFAI asked the White House to unblock 41 more accounts. Now, at least some of those accounts have been unblocked.
And not a moment too soon for some...
I've just been unblocked from @realDonaldTrump... One year. Three months. I'm back, baby! https://t.co/Fe4oy6iFutโ Jules Suzdaltsev (@Jules Suzdaltsev)1535500317.0
Thank you to the Knight Foundation for legally forcing @realDonaldTrump to take out his sticky little phone, scruncโฆ https://t.co/WoUwnVVD75โ Bess Kalb (@Bess Kalb)1535510839.0
Hey @realDonaldTrump Thanks for unblocking me. I can now tell you what I think, so shape up!!โ ๐บ๐ธ Jon B. โGlobalistโ Wolfsthal (@๐บ๐ธ Jon B. โGlobalistโ Wolfsthal)1535470793.0
NEW -- important update to this -- thanks to @KatieFallow and @knightcolumbia, I've been officially UNBLOCKED byโฆ https://t.co/oAUjf2WgHNโ J.D. Durkin (@J.D. Durkin)1535493289.0
@jules_su @realDonaldTrump Time to bring it!!! Some of us are tired of having to carry the trolling for all the folโฆ https://t.co/UmsQi12HUFโ Smocking gun (@Smocking gun)1535540747.0
But many others complained they still have not been released from Trump's Twitter jail yet:
@jules_su @realDonaldTrump Not me https://t.co/Z8k5cXli4iโ Tony Posnanski (@Tony Posnanski)1535500705.0
@tonyposnanski @jules_su @realDonaldTrump Me either. https://t.co/3oBcwbZkLiโ Jon Zal (@Jon Zal)1535500908.0
@OfficialJonZal @tonyposnanski @jules_su @realDonaldTrump Me neither. https://t.co/vnxhS8uOJ1โ William LeGate (@William LeGate)1535500949.0
And they wondered aloud how they, too, could get unblocked:
@KatieFallow @bessbell @JeffreyNussbaum What about the rest of us still blocked? Iโve been blocked since 2013๐กโ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ง๐ เธ'ฬ-'เธ (@๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ง๐ เธ'ฬ-'เธ)1535560308.0
@bessbell @CaseyHinds @realDonaldTrump Iโve been blocked for more than 4 years ... and remain blocked. https://t.co/UyLG8tsZFmโ Col. Morris Davis (@Col. Morris Davis)1535511423.0
@kenklippenstein @jiveDurkey @KatieFallow @realDonaldTrump Email info@knightcolumbia.org if you remain blocked by @realDonaldTrumpโ Knight 1st Amendment (@Knight 1st Amendment)1535503168.0
Still, the most interesting thing about this turn of events is that many of those who were previously blocked are now relishing in the joy of blocking Trump themselves:
First order of business now that Iโve been #unblocked. https://t.co/5iuf3jtg3Nโ Jules Suzdaltsev (@Jules Suzdaltsev)1535501715.0
Oh my fucking god this feels so good. https://t.co/5CuwDmNnI1โ Bess Kalb (@Bess Kalb)1535511147.0
@jiveDurkey @KatieFallow @knightcolumbia @realDonaldTrump I STILL block @realDonaldTrump, and I'm a *nobody*.โ MzAytch (@MzAytch)1535542131.0
@jiveDurkey @KatieFallow @knightcolumbia @realDonaldTrump Awesome, now you can block him like many of us have๐๐๐โ Perl (@Perl)1535504407.0
No doubt this is what things look like over at White House right now:
@bessbell @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/j9rGjR0QdYโ Andy (@Andy)1535554465.0
The Justice Department announced in June that it would appeal the ruling and according to the Knight First Amendment Institute:
...filed its opening brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Aug. 7.
KFAI is now asking anyone who has been blocked from the President's Twitter account to contact them if they'd like to be unblocked.