The Biden White House just lost in federal court after the 5th Circuit found they, along with the CDC and FBI violated the First Amendment. The ruling bars individuals at the White House, the CDC and the FBI from coercing social media companies from taking down posts.
The ruling also pairs back a wider ban by a lower court on the Biden administration.
Here’s more via the Washington Post:
The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that the Biden White House, top government health officials and the FBI likely violated the First Amendment by improperly influencing tech companies’ decisions to remove or suppress posts on covid-19, in a ruling that is largely a victory for conservatives who have long argued that social media platforms were restricting their free speech rights.
The judges’ decision modifies a lower court’s injunction, barring some government officials in the White House and FBI from coercing social media platforms to take down or otherwise limit posts on their website. The decision, written by three judges appointed by Republican presidents, comes after the 5th Circuit temporarily barred an order that put wide ranging restrictions on the Biden administration’s communications with social media firms.
The judges wrote that the White House likely “coerced the platforms to make their moderation decisions by way of intimidating messages and threats of adverse consequences.” They also found the White House “significantly encouraged the platforms’ decisions by commandeering their decision-making processes, both in violation of the First Amendment.”
The decision significantly limited the scope of the lower court’s injunction, which applied to a wide range of officials across the administration, including the Department of Health and Human Services and more than a dozen individual government officials. The new order applies only to the White House, the surgeon general, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FBI.
It’s interesting that they significantly paired back the lower court’s injunction. But at the end of the day I’m not sure it’s going to make that big of a difference. They’ll likely find other ways of accomplishing their censorship goals.