Will appeals court in Louisiana block Biden administration from Facebook, Twitter contact?

A federal appeals court in Louisiana has scheduled a hearing next week to consider whether to allow a judge's order banning the Biden administration from communicating with social media companies like Facebook and Twitter about controversial online posts.

The hearing in front of a three-judge panel is scheduled Aug. 10 at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Louisiana U.S. Judge Terry Doughty issued the temporary injunction July 4 while he considers a lawsuit accusing government officials of colluding with Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to suppress conservative voices about the COVID pandemic and Hunter Biden's laptop.

Doughty denied Biden's attorneys' motion for a stay, or hold, on his order so Biden's attorneys took their motion to the 5th Circuit. The appeals court put a hold on Doughty's order until it could schedule the expedited hearing.

Biden's attorneys argue in their appeal that Doughty's temporary injunction could cause "grave harm" by preventing the government from “engaging in a vast range of lawful and responsible conduct.”

“These immediate and ongoing harms to the Government outweigh any risk of injury to Plaintiffs if a stay is granted,” the attorneys said.

Republican Louisiana General Jeff Landry and Missouri's attorney general filed the lawsuit.

In his ruling, Doughty said the litigants “produced evidence of a massive effort by Defendants, from the White House to federal agencies, to suppress speech based on its content.”

Doughty's ruling made exceptions for national security threats and criminal activity.

He said the plaintiffs were likely to win their ongoing lawsuit and his injunction blocked much of the executive branch from "encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.”

The three-judge panel that will hear the Biden administration appeal includes Edith Brown Clement, a George H.W. Bush nominee, Jennifer Walker Elrod, a George W. Bush nominee, and Don Willett, a Donald Trump nominee.

Doughty, 64, a Republican nominated by Trump in 2017, was confirmed by the Senate in 2018 on a 98-0 vote.

More: What we know about Judge Terry Doughty, who blocked Biden's COVID vaccine mandate and drilling ban

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1

This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Will Louisiana appeals court lift social media ban for Biden officials?