A Trump-appointed judge stops the Biden administration from pressuring social media companies to suppress free speech on their platforms.
This comes after the Biden administration has been censoring conservative opinions on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Two attorney generals from Louisiana and Missouri then stood up against this administration’s Orwellian leadership and filed a lawsuit to protect our constitutional rights.
Judge Blocks Biden Administration From Further Meddling With Social Media Content
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 4, 2023
https://t.co/tBtgun9BIA
“Evidence in this case overwhelmingly shows that the way the Government supposedly ‘prevent[s] grave harm to the American people and our democratic processes’ is to pressure and induce social-media platforms to censor disfavored viewpoints on COVID-19, elections, and other core political speech,” the lawsuit read.
“In the end, their position is fundamentally defiant toward the Court’s judgment. It demonstrates that the Government will continue violating First Amendment rights by censoring core political speech on social media as soon as it can get away with it. The motion to stay should be denied,” it continued.
The lawsuit alleges that the Justice Department is putting pressure on social media companies to remove posts or suspend user accounts that question the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines or the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Thankfully, U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty has denied the Biden administration’s request to stay a ruling that places limits on government communications with social media platforms.
“Although this Preliminary Injunction involves numerous agencies, it is not as broad as it appears,” Doughty, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, wrote in his ruling. “It only prohibits something the Defendants have no legal right to do—contacting social media companies for the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner, the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech posted on social-media platforms.”
The ruling marked a win for free speech advocates, who called it a preservation of Americans’ First Amendment rights. Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was elated about the judge’s decision, saying the injunction would stop further censorship of his views on social media platforms, while the American Civil Liberties Union, purported national defenders of the First Amendment, remained noticeably silent.
“Federal judge orders President Biden to stop censoring his critics including me. The decision mentions me on page 17. Happy Independence Day Everyone!” Kennedy Jr. tweeted following the ruling.
