(VitalNews.org) – The United States government has been ordered not to impinge on American citizens’ freedom of speech after the states of Missouri and Louisiana filed a joint lawsuit against President Biden in May 2022. The Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt worked with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, the New Civil Liberties Alliance, and several other individuals to bring a case against the Biden administration on the basis that it had conspired with technology companies to restrict people’s abilities to discuss various matters relating to COVID-19 and even the results of the 2020 presidential election. The case also included a previously filed case against President Biden made by Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy’s case was ultimately consolidated into the Missouri v. Biden lawsuit due to its overlap in content.
Discovery documents relating to the court case reveal that 67 federal employees working in 12 different government agencies are known to have used their power and influence with technology and communications companies such as YouTube, Meta, and X (formerly Twitter) in order to censor people’s communications. According to Judge Doughty’s July 2023 ruling, these federal employees coerced the businesses via intimidating messages and threats of negative consequences. The judgement also found that officials from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suppressed freedom of speech not through coercion, but through attempts to influence the decision-making process of moderators.
The White House has argued that it did nothing illegal, and simply tried to assist technology companies in rooting out what it termed ‘misinformation’. The Biden administration claims that it only pointed out instances of content that violated the business’ own terms of conduct, and only to try to protect people from hazardous content. While the White House has appealed the original ruling, it has been upheld, albeit with some amendments, by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. One such amendment included the removal of certain federal agencies from the order, meaning that it now applies solely to the White House, the CDC, the FBI, and the Surgeon General’s Office.
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