Why Trump is being sued for blocking Twitter users

Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza is the judicial affairs editor for Daily Kos in Washington, D.C. Philip Cohen is a sociologist at the University Of Maryland. Their paths came together when President Donald Trump took the time to block them from his Twitter account because he didn't like what they were saying. Now they're plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the president to defend the First Amendment.

Buckwalter-Poza said the president himself has called Twitter a public forum and she is concerned that he wants to change that public forum into "a one-sided conversation that gives a distorted view of what's going on."

Cohen said that being blocked severely hurt his ability to say what he wants and for people to hear how he comments on the president's tweets.

Buckwalter-Poza and Cohen are amongst seven plaintiffs who went to federal court in New York Thursday to sue the president for violating their First Amendment right to free speech.

To be clear, neither Buckwalter-Poza nor Cohen's tweets contained any threats or expletives. They each showed us the tweets they sent that after which they noticed they could no longer see nor comment on the president's tweets, which he often uses to make major announcements.

The federal judge Thursday asked if muting rather than blocking Twitter accounts he dislikes would represent a settlement.

Social media lawyer Pedram Tabibi told Fox 5 the plaintiffs would have to decide if that is fair. He said that would be a better solution than just blocking people based on their viewpoint.

In Buckwalter-Poza's case, more than free speech it is about her ability to do her job as legal journalist who is followed for her analysis.