When in spectator mode (/gamemode 3), if you have items on the hotbar and press the Drop Item key, items will be dropped that other players can interact with.
Contrary to this, if you open your inventory and try to throw an item out manually, you will be prevented from doing so.
Linked issues
Comments 2
Duplicate of MC-46430
Disregard this, duplicate of: https://bugs.mojang.com/browse/MC-46430