Roy Gutterman, free speech expert and associate professor at Newhouse School for Public Communications, is available for comment about the news that Twitter users are suing President Donald Trump and White House officials Sean Spicer and Daniel Scavino for blocking them on Twitter.
“This lawsuit is asking the court to prevent the President of the United States from blocking users he does not like from his chosen mode of communication. If the President is declaring Twitter an integral part of the modern presidency and a primary tool for communication, then the government cannot block citizens from accessing the Twitter feed. This is a modern abuse of the First Amendment and the free flow of information,” said Gutterman who is also director of the Tully Center for Free Speech. “Social media is the place where we exchange and receive information and express ourselves in our modern world. These are public venues, which happen to be run by private entities. These venues allow for the types of exclusions we see being challenged here. But the blocking technology was not intended for this kind of use – blocking critics and dissidents.”
“The plaintiffs in this case and the Knight Center are taking a bold step to keep government officials accountable,” said Gutterman.
Gutterman is available to speak to media about this issue. He can be interviewed via email/phone/Skype/LTN studio. Contact Ellen James Mbuqe, director of news and public relations at Syracuse University, at 315.443.1897 or ejmbuqe@syr.edu, or Wendy Loughlin, director of communications at Newhouse, at 315.443.2785 or wsloughl@syr.edu, to arrange an interview.
Think about all the decisions you make in your life. From where you work, to what you eat, to whom you associate with, to where you live, to politicians you vote for—human lives are ruled by myriad decisions that people,…
Kyle Rosenblum, a senior policy studies major in the College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and a psychology major in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named a Schwarzman Scholar. He…
The world measures 510 million square kilometers in surface area. Think about how small you are on that scale. Now think about something—an arachnid—even smaller, around 10 millimeters at biggest. One would assume that such a small speck couldn’t possibly…
[Update, Nov. 19, 2019: This event has been canceled.] “Democracy in the Digital Age: Does It Exist?” is a data-driven, interactive art exhibition produced by students in the Newhouse School and the School of Information Studies (iSchool) that seeks to…
Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law (SPL) is the new name for the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT), a collaboration between the College of Law and the Maxwell School. Founded by Professor of Law Emeritus William…
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
