A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday restricted some agencies and officials of the administration of President Joe Biden from meeting and communicating with social media companies to moderate their content, according to a court filing.

Summary:

WASHINGTON, July 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday restricted some agencies and officials of the administration of President Joe Biden from meeting and communicating with social media companies to moderate their content, according to a court filing. The injunction came in response to a lawsuit brought by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, who alleged that U.S. government officials went too far in efforts to encourage social media companies to address posts they worried could contribute to vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic or upend elections.

A White House official said the Justice Department was reviewing the order and will evaluate its options.

The litigation was originally filed by former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry.

The injunction was first reported by the Washington Post.

  • @DevCatEnglish
    6•1 year ago

    The ruling said government agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services 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” under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

    I would argue that H&HS has a duty to go after medical disinformation as part of their mandate. Consider the following case:

    https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/08/us/text-message-suicide-michelle-carter-conrad-roy/index.html

    Text messages were used to drive someone to suicide. They were just words, but neglected to take into consideration the power of those words. The texter was convicted of “reckless conduct”.

    Consider, as well, how many stories you’ve read of hate speech leading to violence. Willful medical disinformation during a health crisis should be considered as the same, and social media platforms should be required to take down such content, just as they would speech that drives someone to suicide.