A federal judge’s order Tuesday prohibiting various Biden administration agencies and officials from communicating with social media companies about certain content thrust an under-the-radar lawsuit into the national spotlight.
The preliminary injunction issued by US District Judge Terry Doughty in Louisiana ordered a slew of federal agencies and more than a dozen top officials not to communicate with social media companies about taking down “content containing protected free speech” that’s posted on the platforms.
On Wednesday, the administration notified the court that it plans to appeal the order.
The order is part of a lawsuit brought by the Missouri and Louisiana attorneys general in 2022 that accuses the Biden administration of effectively silencing conservatives by pressuring the private social media companies in its effort to moderate online misinformation about Covid-19.
Though Doughty hasn’t yet ruled on the merits of the two states’ claims, the injunction represents their most significant victory yet in the ongoing lawsuit.
Legal experts say that the order is overly broad and scholars on online misinformation warned that it could have a chilling effect on the government’s efforts to curtail lies about public health emergencies and elections.
Here’s what to know about Tuesday’s order.
Doughty, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, outlined 10 actions that agencies and officials are prohibited from taking, including “specifically flagging content or posts on social-media platforms and/or forwarding such to social-media companies urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner for removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.”
The order applies to communication with social media companies that “include Facebook/Meta,…
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