Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Professor’s First Amendment Lawsuit

A political science professor at Portland State University had sued a University of Oregon employee for blocking him on an official Twitter account.

The icon for social media platform Twitter, now X, displayed on a smart phone on April 26, 2017. Matt Rourke/AP Photo

A district court sided with a Portland State University professor on Tuesday, issuing a preliminary injunction against an employee at the University of Oregon for violating the professor’s First Amendment rights on social media.

The case stems from an incident in which Tova Stabin, then the communications manager for the University of Oregon’s Division of Equity and Inclusion, blocked Twitter user Bruce Gilley from following the division’s official account on Twitter, now known as X.