Responding to a petition on Monday, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas laid out a comprehensive constitutional framework for regulating Twitter moderation, signaling that Thomas and other conservatives are eager to take action against social media platforms.
Thomas was writing in response to a case brought in 2017 by Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, arguing that President ***** was violating the First Amendment by blocking critics on Twitter. A federal appeals court ruled in favor of the institute in 2019 and *****’s White House has declined to contest that ruling, making it pointless to continue the case. But since an appeal was filed while ***** was still president, the court is formally required to respond.