News/Commentary

Federal-judge bans Biden admin from working with social media companies to censor content it dislikes

July 5, 2023 | | Print Article

A federal judge ruled on Independence Day that the Biden administration may no longer work with social media companies to censor content it dislikes.

In the ruling, Trump-appointed U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty argued that during the COVID pandemic, the Biden administration established a veritable “Ministry of Truth” that “used its power to silence the opposition.”

As in “opposition to COVID-19 vaccines; opposition to COVID-19 masking and lockdowns; opposition to the lab-leak theory of COVID-19; opposition to the validity of the 2020 election; opposition to President Biden’s policies; statements that the Hunter Biden laptop story was true; and opposition to policies of the government officials in power,” the ruling reads.

In other words, the administration tried to silence anybody who disagreed with it.

“It is quite telling that each example or category of suppressed speech was conservative in nature. This targeted suppression of conservative ideas if a perfect example of viewpoint discrimination of political speech. American citizens have the right to engage in free debate about the significant issues affecting the country,” the ruling continues.

“[T]he evidence produced thus far depicts an almost dystopian scenario. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period perhaps best characterized by widespread doubt and uncertainity, the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth,'” the ruling concludes.

According to Politico, the ruling specifically establishes a sweeping preliminary injunction “barring numerous federal officials and agencies … from having any contact with social media firms for the purpose of discouraging or removing First Amendment-protected speech.”

That’s the good news.

The bad news is “it isn’t a final decision on the suit and can be appealed by the Biden administration to the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.”

However, the 5th Circuit is reportedly highly conservative.

“The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans has long leaned conservative. But the arrival of a half-dozen judges picked by President Donald Trump — many of them young, ambitious and outspoken — has put the court at the forefront of resistance to the Biden administration’s assertions of legal authority and to the regulatory power of federal agencies,” The Washington Post notes.

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The ruling prompted celebration and praise from those on the center and the right who understand the importance of free speech:

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On the left meanwhile, the reaction was one of doom, gloom, and resistance, with leftists shaking their heads in outrage over Doughty’s exaltation of free speech.

“Of course a judge nominated by Donald Trump would not want the Biden administration to interfere in any way with the publication of falsehoods on social media. It is part and parcel of the Republican judiciary advancing the cause of the Republican Party,” the top-voted comment at The New York Times reads.

The piece itself by the Times is just as negative.

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“A federal judge in Louisiana on Tuesday restricted the Biden administration from communicating with social media platforms about broad swaths of content online, a ruling that could curtail efforts to combat false and misleading narratives about the coronavirus pandemic and other issues,” the piece reads.

The paper has been ratioed on Twitter for portraying the ruling in such a negative light.

Look:

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Vivek Saxena
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