Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Washington Post reports:
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked key Biden administration agencies and officials from meeting and communicating with social media companies about “protected speech,” in an extraordinary preliminary injunction in an ongoing case that could have profound effects on the First Amendment.
The injunction came in response to a lawsuit brought by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, who allege that government officials went too far in their efforts to encourage social media companies to address posts that they worried could contribute to vaccine hesitancy during the pandemic or upend elections.
The Donald Trump-appointed judge’s move could undo years of efforts to enhance coordination between the government and social media companies.
The New York Times reports:
In the ruling, Judge Terry A. Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana said that parts of the government, including HHS and the FBI could not talk to social media companies for “the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.”
Judge Doughty said in granting a preliminary injunction that the agencies could not flag specific posts to the social media platforms or requests reports about their efforts to take down content. The ruling said that the government could still notify the platforms about posts detailing crimes, national security threats or foreign attempts to influence elections.
Doughty last appeared on JMG in June 2021 when he blocked the COVID vaccine mandate for federal workers in a ruling that was riddled with false anti-vaccine claims and which cited a notorious anti-vaccine activist. In September 2022 he issued a permanent injunction against vaccine mandates for teachers.
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked key Biden administration agencies and officials from meeting and communicating with social media companies, in an extraordinary injunction in an ongoing case that could have profound effects on the First Amendment. https://t.co/inoSXQyWut
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 4, 2023