(Photo Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Congresswoman lands in how water over Twitter account

On Tuesday, an appeals court in New York ruled that President Trump cannot block his critics on Twitter. A panel of three judges ruled that Trump uses his Twitter account to conduct government business, and therefore cannot prevent certain people from reading his Tweets and responding via comments.

The ruling has widespread implications for other government officials who use social media. Immediately after the ruling, a former New York state assemblyman, Don Hikind, sued New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for blocking 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 public announcement about the lawsuit. “Just today the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling that elected officials cannot block individuals from their Twitter accounts, thereby setting a precedent that Ocasio-Cortez must follow. Twitter is a public space, and all should have access to the government officials on it.”

Ocasio-Cortez has not responded to Hikind or spoken about the Trump ruling. However, Hikind continued to rail against Ocasio-Cortez, a fellow Democrat, saying she is a “hypocrite” who is “afraid” of his free speech.

“Ocasio-Cortez is acting cowardly and should be ashamed of her attempts to silence me,” Hikind said. “I’ve done nothing but address her ignorance and disregard for the truth.”