美国公民自由团体希望政客们在社交媒体上不要拉黑用户。
And those politicians include President Donald Trump.
这些政客就包括川普总统。
The American Civil Liberties Union, known as the ACLU, filed a lawsuit against the governor of the state of Maine. The group also sent warning letters to the congressional members from the state of Utah.
美国公民自由联盟（简称ACLU）对缅因州州长提起了诉讼，该组织还向来自犹他州的国会议员发出了警告信。
That comes after the ACLU filed lawsuits against the governors of Kentucky and Maryland in early August. In July, a free speech organization connected with Columbia University in New York City sued President Trump.
在此之前，美国公民自由联盟于8月初向肯塔基州和马里兰州州长发起了诉讼。7月份，跟纽约市哥伦比亚大学相关的一家言论自由组织起诉了川普总统。
The president often uses Twitter to communicate with the American people. But some Twitter users say they have been blocked by Trump for sending tweets he did not like.
川普总统经常在推特上跟美国人民交流。但是有些推特用户表示，他们发了一些川普不喜欢的推文，被川普拉入黑名单了。
Those people can no longer send messages to Trump on Twitter.
这些人在推特上没法再给川普发消息了。
That action raises questions about what elected officials can do on their social media pages.
这一举动引发了人们对于民选官员在社交媒体上可以怎么做的质疑。
In the past, politicians may have held public meetings to learn the concerns of voters. Now, however, they use Facebook and Twitter to have online conversations with voters.
过去，政客们可能会举行公众集会以了解选民们的关注点。然而现在他们使用脸书和推特跟选民在线交流。
Anna Thomas is a spokeswoman for the ACLU of Utah.
安娜·托马斯（Anna Thomas）是犹他州美国公民自由联盟的发言人。
She said voters see their representatives as available on Twitter and Facebook.
她说，选民们认为他们的代表在推特和脸书上随时可以交流。
"They're hungry for opportunities to express their opinions," she said. "That includes people who disagree with public officials."
她说：“选民们渴望表达他们观点的机会，这里面包括那些跟官员意见相左的人们。”
The officials targeted by the lawsuits and warnings so far are all Republicans.
截至目前被诉讼和警告的官员都是共和党人。
They say they are blocking people who post "hateful and violent content," "spam" and "off-topic comments."
这些官员表示他们拉黑了那些发布“仇恨和暴力内容、”“垃圾邮件”以及“离题评论”的用户。
Matt Whitlock is a spokesman for Orrin Hatch, a U.S. senator from Utah. He said people are only blocked after they violate rules.
马特·惠特洛克（Matt Whitlock）是犹他州参议员奥林·哈奇（Orrin Hatch）的发言人。他说，只有违反规则的人士才会被拉黑。
Whitlock said Hatch's Facebook page should not be used as a platform for "offensive content or misinformation."
惠特洛克表示，哈奇的脸书主页不应该被人们当作发布“攻击性信息或错误信息”的平台。
Katie Fallow is a lawyer at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University in New York City. Her organization filed the lawsuit against Trump last month.
凯蒂·法罗（Katie Fallow）是纽约市哥伦比亚大学骑士第一修正案研究所的一名律师。她的组织上个月对川普发起了诉讼。
She said politicians who choose to use social media "can't pick and choose who [they] hear from."
她说选择使用社交媒体的政治家“不能对粉丝挑三拣四。”
U.S. courts have not heard cases like these before. But one legal expert said the free-speech advocates like the ACLU probably will be able to make a stronger case than the politicians.
美国法院以前没有审理过这类案件。但是一位法律专家表示，像美国公民自由联盟这样的言论自由倡导者能够搞出比政客们更大的案子。
Erwin Chemerinsky is the head of the law school at the University of California – Berkeley. He said the officials may be able to block followers only if they are blocking supporters and critics alike. "It's got to be content-neutral," he said.
欧文·凯莫林斯基（Erwin Chemerinsky）是加州大学伯克利分校法学院的院长。他说，官员们可以拉黑粉丝，除非他们相应地拉黑支持者和批评者。他说：“它必须是内容中性的。”
While the question of whether politicians can block people from their social media pages may seem minor, one expert says it is quite important.
虽然政客们在社交媒体上是否可以拉黑用户这个问题看上去可能微不足道，但是一名专家表示，这点非常重要。
Amanda Shanor works for the Information Society Project at Yale University's Law School. With more of the political discussion happening online, she said, "it's more important that we know what these rules are."
阿曼达·萨诺尔（Amanda Shanor）就职于耶鲁大学法学院的信息社会项目。随着越来越多政治讨论在网上进行，她说：“更重要的是我们知道规则是什么。”
I'm Dan Friedell.
我是丹·费里德尔。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)