The US Supreme Court will hear a case challenging the Biden administration’s requests to social media companies to remove “misinformation” posts.
Records revealed the White House explicitly urged platforms to promptly remove certain posts, with demands accompanied by profanity.
“Even if you have not been personally censored, you’ve been impacted by this censorship because the First Amendment exists, not just for the speaker, but also for the listener,” Dr. Aaron Kheriaty said. “It’s necessary in a democracy that people have access to both sides of a contested issue or a public debate.”
Many Americans still have no idea this happened https://t.co/JBDGF85SBN
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 17, 2024
“Are you guys [expletive] serious?” the Biden White House said to Facebook.
“I want an answer on what happened here and I want it today,” the email added.
A district court judge issued an injunction prohibiting administration officials from engaging with platforms to censor speech, calling it a “massive attack” on free speech.
The plaintiffs argue removal of content under government pressure constitutes state action violating the First Amendment. (Trending: Boeing Whistleblower Found Dead, Left Behind Chilling Message)
“After the White House’s escalation of pressure in July 2021, platforms responded by treating the CDC as the final authority on what could and could not be posted on their platforms,” the plaintiff’s brief read, noting that social sites “capitulated to virtually all White House demands going forward.”
“The government’s job is to police the line between lawful and unlawful speech, not the line between true and false speech,” New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) President Mark Chenoweth stated.
“Our Founding Fathers rightly did not trust the government to be the arbiter of truth. In fact, much of the speech the government suppressed in this case—about Covid-19 and Hunter Biden’s laptop—was truthful,” he added.
While the Fifth Circuit upheld a narrower injunction, some justices have voiced concerns about the administration’s efforts to squelch posts, with Alito questioning if the government thinks the First Amendment allows such “heavy-handed tactics” to stifle speech.
“Does the Government think that the First Amendment allows Executive Branch officials to engage in such conduct?” Justice Samuel Alito asked.
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