The Biden administration likely violated the First Amendment by pressuring social media platforms to censor posts about elections and the COVID-19 pandemic, a federal appeals court ruled.
On Friday, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ordered that the White House, the FBI and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cannot “coerce” social media platforms to remove content they believe is misinformation. Two of the three judges on the panel were nominated by former President George W. Bush and one was nominated by President Donald Trump.
The decision from the panel came after a lower court judge found that the Biden administration illegally coerced big tech companies to censor some of their posts (via NBC News):
The lower-court judge found that U.S. officials illegally coerced Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Alphabet’s YouTube into censoring posts related to Covid and the 2020 election.
The 5th Circuit agreed with the Republican state attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, who had alleged that numerous federal officials coerced social-media platforms into censoring content in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment’s free speech protections.
But the court, in an unsigned opinion by three judges appointed by Republican presidents, vacated much of the lower court’s injunction, with the exception of a provision concerning alleged coercion, which it narrowed.
The 5th Circuit said the narrower injunction applied to the White House, the surgeon general, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FBI, but would no longer apply to other federal officials covered by the lower court order. The agencies are barred from coercing, threatening or pressuring social media companies to remove content.
“Social-media platforms’ content-moderation decisions must be theirs and theirs alone,” the court wrote.
The lower court’s ruling placed restrictions on more agencies, including the State Department, Homeland Security, and Department of Health and Human Services.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry called the ruling a “win against censorship, totalitarianism, and Biden.”
Fifth Circuit just unanimously affirmed Judge Doughty’s injunction against White House, CDC, FBI and others — giving Americans and #FreedomOfSpeech a major win against censorship, totalitarianism, and Biden. #FirstAmendment
— AG Jeff Landry (@AGJeffLandry) September 8, 2023
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey called the ruling a “massive win against the Biden administration” for its “blatant censorship.”
We landed a massive win against the Biden Administration yesterday for its blatant censorship of free speech on social media platforms.
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) September 9, 2023
Some notable quotes from the Court’s order ->
Here the Court points out that Joe Biden’s staff used the power of his Office to coerce media companies into censoring speech pic.twitter.com/KD5bHflI0y
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) September 9, 2023
Couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) September 9, 2023
The White House violated the First Amendment. Repeatedly. pic.twitter.com/b3EI75ohBc
The Court also explicitly called out the FBI for using its law enforcement authority to pressure content moderation and the change of social media policies pic.twitter.com/6qG5epBvf4
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) September 9, 2023
“Our team will continue to construct this wall of separation between tech and state,” Bailey concluded. “Yesterday’s ruling was one more brick laid in that foundation. Your First Amendment rights are not up for debate.”