The US Justice Department said it’s appealing a court ruling that would block federal agencies and officials from communicating with social media companies about the content that appears on their platforms, restricting the Biden administration’s efforts to stem the spread of misinformation.
The department filed a notice of appeal with the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans Wednesday.
In a 155-page opinion, US District Judge Terry Doughty, who was nominated by former President Donald Trump, held that federal officials likely violated the First Amendment in how they had communicated with Twitter, Meta, and other tech giants about removing or restricting certain content related to the pandemic, the 2020 election, and other political subjects.
Read More: Biden Administration Ordered to Limit Social Media Contacts
The administration argued it had pursued “necessary and responsible actions to protect public health, safety, and security” amid a deadly pandemic and threats to election integrity. The challengers — the Republican attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana and individual social media users — alleged a government-orchestrated censorship campaign directed at conservative-leaning speech.
Doughty’s injunction barred a broad array of federal actors from communicating with any social media company “for the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing” companies to remove or suppress speech. The judge included exceptions if the government needed to contact companies about criminal activity — including related to elections — national security concerns, or other threats to “public safety or security.”
(Updates with background)
