A United States federal court restricted this Tuesday (4) the meetings and communications of some senior officials and agencies of Joe Biden’s government with social media companies, with the aim of moderating their content.
The decision was made in response to a lawsuit filed by the Republican attorneys generals of Louisiana and Missouri, who alleged that government officials went too far in their efforts for platforms to combat misinformation about vaccines and elections.
This ruling limits agencies and employees to meeting with social media companies or alerting them to postings with “the purpose of instigating, encouraging, pressuring, or in any way inducing the removal, suppression, or reduction of content protected by freedom of expression” under the First Amendment to the Constitution.
The Louisiana federal court ruling represents a victory for conservatives in the United States, who allege the Biden administration is using the coronavirus pandemic and the threat of misinformation as excuses to censor or remove content from the internet.
However, this could seriously limit the reach of government agencies to notify platforms of problematic, false or misleading content.
The order applies to agencies such as the FBI, State Department, Justice Department and even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It also involves senior officials such as White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
There was no immediate response from social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter.
A White House official said the Justice Department is reviewing the court order and will evaluate its options.
Some disinformation and First Amendment experts criticized the decision. “The court order in this case is certainly very broad,” said Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight Institute for the First Amendment at Columbia University.
“It would protect platforms not only from coercion but also from criticism,” he added.
