密歇根新闻广播 对候选人自由言论的限定

Last week, a federal appeals court ruled that President Donald Trump¹ violated the First Amendment² by blocking critics on Twitter.

In Michigan, state politicians are also wrestling with the parameters³ of free speech online. That's after GOP state Representative Beau LaFave (R-Iron Mountain) called out Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel for blocking him from her personal Twitter account.

Faith Sparr is an attorney and a University of Michigan lecturer in Communication Studies. She says that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the argument that Twitter serves as a kind of public forum⁴ under the First Amendment.

In cases like Attorney General Nessel's, Sparr says whether or not elected officials are entitled to the use of personal social media accounts depends on the type of content they post online.

If they are talking about what they did over the weekend with their family, if they're talking about a show they saw, if they're talking about things that are really personal, I think that even the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision would indicate that they can do that, Sparr said.

But once elected officials begin tweeting public pronouncements or announcing policy changes on their personal Twitter accounts as President Trump does often, Sparr says that the comment threads below those tweets becomes a public space where dissenting⁵ opinions cannot be blocked.

It is possible that platforms like Twitter could one day implement⁶ a time, place, and manner restriction⁷ that addresses the specific language people use to express their viewpoints. But in the aftermath of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals' decision, Sparr says:

I think a lot of government officials if they have any attorney in their ear at all, they're going to be sitting down and thinking hard, and thinking twice, about blocking users.

This post was written by Stateside production assistant Isabella Isaacs-Thomas.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

3 parameters   

因素，特征； 界限； （限定性的）因素( parameter的名词复数 )； 参量； 参项； 决定因素

参考例句：

• We have to work within the parameters of time. 我们的工作受时间所限。
• See parameters.cpp for a compilable example. This is part of the Spirit distribution. 可编译例子见parameters.cpp.这是Spirit分发包的组成部分。

4 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

5 dissenting   

adj.不同意的

参考例句：

• He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
• A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

7 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。