EUGENE VOLOKH WEIGHS IN ON THE TWITTER DECISION: Government-Run Fora on Private Platforms, in the @RealDonaldTrump User Blocking Controversy.

Twitter is a private entity, which isn’t bound by the First Amendment. (Whether Congress could constitutionally impose some sort of constraints on Twitter’s banning users is a separate matter; so far, Congress hasn’t.) President Trump is a government official, and his actions are potentially constrained by the First Amendment.

One can argue that he’s running the account in his individual capacity; but once the court concludes that he’s acting as an official, and not just as a politician, the First Amendment does apply to him. And if the blocking were done on a government entity’s account, such as an account run by a school board, a police department, or a city council, then the First Amendment would even more clearly apply.

Nor should it matter that President Trump is using private property for his speech. A city council, for instance, is barred by the First Amendment from kicking speakers out of an open comment period based on their viewpoints. (It has no constitutional obligation to set up such a period, but many city councils choose to.) And that remains so even if the city council decides to meet in a privately owned building that the owner has let it use for the occasion.

Lots to chew on here. Read the whole thing.