Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito upheld an appeals court decision that temporarily halted a lower court ruling preventing President Joe Biden’s administration from requesting social media companies to remove content categorized as ‘misinformation’ by federal officials.
“The decision to keep the matter on hold until Wednesday gives the court more time to consider the administration’s request to block an injunction issued by a lower court that had concluded that federal officials likely had violated the free speech protections of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment by coercing social media platforms into censoring certain posts,” Reuters reported.
“Alito’s order pauses the dispute until Sept. 27 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. He had previously halted the lower court’s ruling through Sept. 22,” the outlet noted further. “Alito is the justice designated by the court to act on certain matters arising from a group of states that include Louisiana, where the lawsuit was first filed.”
Back in July, the Daily Wire covered an injunction by Chief U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty, appointed by Trump. This injunction prohibited Biden administration officials from engaging with social media companies, which was seen as a significant First Amendment triumph.
Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), a former state attorney general, lodged the complaint. He contended that government officials had attempted to inappropriately sway these platforms, leading to the suppression of perspectives differing from the administration’s viewpoints.
“White House officials, CDC & others are stopped cold. We need to continue the fight to take down the Vast Censorship Enterprise,” Schmitt tweeted following the decision. “Their view of ‘misinformation’ isn’t an excuse to censor. This is the most important free speech case in a generation. Freedom is on the march.”
Schmitt filed the case when before he was elected last year.
“White House officials, CDC & others are stopped cold. We need to continue the fight to take down the Vast Censorship Enterprise. Their view of ‘misinformation’ isn’t an excuse to censor. This is the most important free speech case in a generation. Freedom is on the march,” Schmitt said, calling the decision a “[b]ig win for the First Amendment on this Independence Day.”
Judge Doughty made certain exceptions in his ruling. According to The Washington Post, he will permit government officials to communicate with social media companies in cases involving posts related to “criminal activity or criminal conspiracies,” “national security threats, extortion, or other threats,” as well as crimes pertaining to U.S. elections.
Resist the Mainstream added:
Many expect the ruling to disrupt years of collaboration between tech companies and the government, especially in terms of addressing illegal activities and interference in elections.
The injunction applies to various executive agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, prohibiting them from pressuring social media platforms into removing, suppressing or reducing the visibility of content protected by the First Amendment.
