Judge limits Biden administration contact with social networks
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A judge has ruled that some government agencies and individuals in the Biden administration cannot contact social media companies about content moderation.
In the ruling Tuesday from U.S. District Court Judge Terry A. Doughty in the Western District of Louisiana, Doughty accused Biden administration officials and government agencies of coercing social networks into suppressing content.
The judge, who was nominated by former President Donald Trump and confirmed in 2018, said Biden administration officials “suppressed conservative-leaning free speech,” including stories about President Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s laptop, COVID-19 vaccines and public health measures, voting by mail and election integrity in the 2020 campaign and other topics, according to court documents.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period perhaps best characterized by widespread doubt and uncertainty, the United States government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth,’” Doughty wrote, referencing a government agency in author George Orwell’s novel “1984.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday at the press briefing, “we certainly disagree with this decision,” and that the Justice Department was reviewing it.
“We are going to continue to promote responsible actions to protect public health, safety and security when confronted by challenges like a deadly pandemic and foreign attacks on our elections, so we’re going to continue to do that and promote that in a responsible way,” Jean-Pierre said.
She said the administration’s view was that social media sites, “have a critical responsibility to take action or to take account of the effects of their platforms,” but said they, “make independent choices about the information they present.”
“They are a private, as you know, entity, and it is their responsibility to act accordingly and so we’re going to continue to be responsible in that way,” Jean-Pierre said.
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The injunction named Biden, Jean-Pierre, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and others. It was granted in connection with a 2022 lawsuit from the attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., who filed the suit when he was Missouri attorney general, tweeted Tuesday that the ruling was a “huge win for the First Amendment and a blow to censorship.”
Platforms have faced acute challenges in the U.S. in recent years in enforcing their terms of service and combatting misinformation on topics like elections and COVID-19, and disagreement over content moderation policies has become a political issue.
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Many on the right share concerns about political censorship on social media. A 2020 Pew Research Center survey found 90% of Republicans and Republican leaners believe it’s likely social media sites censor political viewpoints compared with 73% of all U.S. adults and 59% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.
Tensions between social media companies and the state are simmering not only in the U.S., but France, where French President Emmanuel Macron is facing criticism after suggesting social network bans “when things get out of control,” according to France 24, a French state-owned network.
