4 ms·
I feel pretty conflicted on this. The way Trump is using his Twitter, it almost becomes public property. I mean he's making huge announcements, almost solely on
by jordan801 8y ago
I feel pretty conflicted on this. The way Trump is using his Twitter, it almost becomes public property. I mean he's making huge announcements, almost solely on Twitter. So, at that point, it's almost like denying public access to the State of the Union. But, on the other hand, it's his damn Twitter and he should be able to do whatever he wants with it.
I guess it begs the question, when you're a "public servant", and you use your social media as a medium, are you entitled to privacy in the same way a standard citizen is? Or does that medium become public property? It's probably best that "public servants" don't use their private materials in an official capacity.
[edit] switched public capacity to official.
- Retric 8y agoThe ruling revolves around how he is using the account. If the had been just giving cooking tips then it would not have been considered a 'government' account which seem reasonable.
- jordan801 8y agoThat's exactly what I am saying. Since he's using it in an official capacity, it becomes questionable. I agree with the ruling, as it pertains to his usage.
- posterboy 8y agoI fully agree, just as movie stars enter into contracts to limit their public appearance, because image is everything. Trump is nothing much more, in my view.
- BryantD 8y agoThere's some interesting stuff around Nikki Haley's personal Twitter account in the same vein. This is a specific State Department policy, but she's not supposed to make official announcements on her private Twitter account because it's increasing the value of her personal property using her governmental status. See https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/20/nikki-haley-personal-twitter-account-597279 https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/20/nikki-haley-person... for more. Trump is obviously doing the same thing, but since there's no official policy about it...
- forapurpose 8y ago> when you're a "public servant", and you use your social media as a medium, are you entitled to privacy in the same way a standard citizen is? Public figures have different standards of privacy. For example, the standard for what a news publication can report about you are different; thresholds for slander are higher. What is a public figure? AFAIK, it's someone who voluntarily puts themself forward as one. For example, a movie star, someone who makes public speeches, etc. Running for President of the U.S. is volunteering to be the most public figure in the world, and arguably Trump seeks publicity beyond any other president.
- jsutton 8y agoTrump cannot claim that his personal twitter account is solely his personal opinions and thus can do whatever he wants with it, whilst at the same time using it as a platform for public policy announcements and political speech. If instead he had two accounts, one in the capacity of the POTUS and another as his own, then you may have a point. But that isn't the case.
- FireBeyond 8y agoHe forced that on himself. His administration even announced they considered his Twitter statements "official statements": https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/trump-tweets-official-statements/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/trump-tweets-officia... So no-one to blame but himself. He'd rather use his personal Twitter than @potus, because it's all about his "brand" to him.
- Consultant32452 8y agoI think he should troll the court by blocking everyone except the people who have White House press passes. That way only they can participate in the conversation, as it has always been.
- cryptonector 8y agoBeing blocked doesn't prevent you from reading it. Nor does being blocked prevent you from petitioning the government, since twitter isn't how you petition the government.