Staff Reports
In a victory for free speech and the First Amendment, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a ruling that puts restrictions on federal government officials when it comes to their interactions with social media companies. This decision comes from the case of Missouri v. Biden, which was heard in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
Federal Court Upholds Landmark Free Speech Case Banning US Government from Big Tech Censorshiphttps://t.co/Y7py4sFZ5T
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) September 11, 2023
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey celebrated the court’s decision, saying that it upholds the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans. He also pointed out the alarming fact that the White House has been pressuring social media companies to censor speech, which is a clear violation of our constitutional rights.
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
The 74-page opinion published by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stated that government officials have been strong-arming social media platforms into suppressing certain viewpoints. From Covid-19 health policies to the origins of the pandemic, and even topics like election security and Hunter Biden, it seems the government has been trying to control the narrative on these important issues.
The panel of judges who made this ruling were all appointed by Republican presidents, which adds weight to the conservative perspective that the government should not be able to dictate what can and cannot be said on social media.
This case is one of the most significant disputes regarding the First Amendment that is currently being debated in the courts. It raises important questions about the extent to which the government can oversee and control the content posted on major social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter (or as I like to call it, ‘X’).
While the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals aligned with the federal judge who ruled against the government earlier this year, they did narrow certain aspects of the injunction against the Biden administration. They imposed less extensive restrictions on how the government can engage with online platforms and limited these restrictions to a smaller group of federal agencies and officials.
In July, a district judge issued a preliminary injunction that prevented President Joe Biden, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, and former chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci from communicating with social media companies about content they deemed misinformation. This ruling came after Republican attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana exposed the Biden administration’s effort to stifle free speech through a “federal censorship enterprise.”
The government claimed that this injunction would hinder their ability to combat foreign influence campaigns, prosecute crimes, protect national security, and provide accurate information to the public. However, it seems like a flimsy excuse to infringe on our right to express our opinions and engage in meaningful discourse.
This case also highlighted the government’s campaign to discredit and suppress voices critical of their Covid-19 lockdown policies and school closures. Epidemiologists who authored the Great Barrington Declaration, a letter critical of these policies, were targeted by the government. Social media platforms willingly complied with the government’s requests to take down content and deplatform certain users, including vaccine critics labeled as the “disinformation dozen.”
It’s clear that the government has been using its power to manipulate social media companies into conforming to their preferred narrative. This ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is a step in the right direction towards protecting our freedom of speech and ensuring that the government doesn’t have unchecked control over the information we have access to.
Conservatives should celebrate this decision as a win for our fundamental rights and a blow to the Biden administration’s attempts to stifle dissenting voices. It’s crucial that we remain vigilant in defending the First Amendment and pushing back against any form of censorship or thought control. Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our democracy, and we must fight tooth and nail to preserve it.
