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Abstract
A federal court ruled in the case Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump that the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account was a designated public forum, and therefore it was a First Amendment violation for President Trump to block users from it on the basis of viewpoint. That action, among others, presented the issue of how courts rule on claims that certain social media accounts—to be clear: not the platforms themselves—are public forums under the First Amendment. This thesis explores that issue by evaluating, in the context of public-forum analysis, how courts have treated the personal accounts of public officials and how courts have treated the campaign accounts of individuals running for office, especially if the individual is a sitting public official. This thesis also offers, after that evaluation, several normative suggestions regarding how courts should treat such accounts.