A Louisiana federal judge has restricted some branches of the Biden administration from communicating or meeting with social media platforms about content moderation on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
Judge Terry A. Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana blocked agencies such as the FBI And the Department of Health and Human Services from flagging social media posts and accounts. The judge made exceptions for national security threats and criminal activity.
The ruling came in response to a lawsuit brought by GOP attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, alleging that government officials, under the guise of curbing misinformation, colluded with social media platforms to remove conservative voices and viewpoints, including posts about the COVID pandemic and Hunter Biden’s laptop.
In their court filings, the AGs alleged “the most egregious violations of the First Amendment in the history of the United States of America.”
A White House official said the Justice Department is reviewing the court's injunction and will evaluate its options.
Government officials have said they tried to reduce COVID deaths by clamping down on harmful misinformation and that they routinely alert social media companies about illegal activity such as human trafficking or terrorism.
"This administration has promoted responsible actions to protect public health, safety, and security when confronted by challenges like a deadly pandemic and foreign attacks on our elections," the official said in a statement. "Our consistent view remains that social media platforms have a critical responsibility to take account of the effects their platforms are having on the American people, but make independent choices about the information they present."
In the injunction, Judge Doughty said Louisiana and Missouri “produced evidence of a massive effort by Defendants, from the White House to federal agencies, to suppress speech based on its content.” The judge has not issued a final ruling. The injunction was first reported by the Washington Post.
Facebook and Instagram owner Meta declined to comment. Twitter responded with an automated poop emoji. Google could not be reached for comment.