Biden Administration s Policing of Online Content Likely Violated Free-Speech Rights, Court Rules – WSJ
A federal appeals court ruled the Biden administration s policing of social-media content during the pandemic likely violated the First Amendment, a decision that bars White House aides and other officials from pressuring online platforms to suppress protected speech.
In a 74-page opinion released late Friday, the New Orleans-based U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said administration officials coerced social-media platforms to censor disfavored views about Covid-19 health policies, the origins of the pandemic and other divisive topics including election security and Hunter Biden.
The ruling came in a case that is among the most potentially consequential First Amendment battles pending in the courts, testing the limits on government scrutiny of social-media content on
,
, X (the renamed Twitter) and other major platforms.
The decision in many respects affirmed the conclusions of a federal judge who ruled against the government on July 4 and castigated the Biden administration for establishing what he called an Orwellian Ministry of Truth.
The appeals panel, though, wary of restricting the government s own speech, narrowed some parts of the judge s injunction against the administration. It imposed less sweeping limits on how the government may communicate with online platforms. And it applied those limits to a smaller pool of federal agencies and officials.
via www.wsj.com
Hooray.