The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the Biden administration “likely violated the First Amendment” in its censorship of the COVID-19 narrative among social media platforms.
The violation of the First Amendment comes from pressuring social-media platforms to censor posts about Covid-19 and elections.
The ruling states that the White House likely “coerced the platforms to make their moderation decisions by way of intimidating messages and threats of adverse consequences.”
The panel consisted of three judges found that the administration “significantly encouraged the platforms’ decisions by commandeering their decision-making processes, both in violation of the First Amendment.”
The federal court’s decision comes in response to the lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri last year. Missouri attorney general Andrew Bailey celebrated the decision in a post on X, saying it would prevent federal officials “from violating the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans.”
National Review reports:
While the Biden White House and CDC allegedly pressured Facebook and YouTube to adopt specific policies around Covid-19 and vaccination-related information, the judges noted the FBI regularly met with tech companies ahead of the 2020 elections. The agency’s activities were “not limited to purely foreign threats,” as the FBI flagged posts that originated inside the U.S. as well, including those that contained incorrect poll hours or mail-in voting procedures.
