A federal court has ruled that President Joe Biden and his administration likely violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution when they pressured social media companies to moderate COVID-19 posts during the pandemic.
Fox News reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans indicated as much in a ruling that it issued on Friday.
The decision was made by a panel of three judges: two nominees of former President George W. Bush and one nominee of former President Donald Trump.
This all stems from a lawsuit that has been brought against the Biden administration by the states of Missouri and Louisiana as well as by a conservative website owner and four individuals.
The reader will likely remember how, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Big Tech and the mainstream media worked to control the narrative. It has since been learned that the Biden administration was involved in, at least, some of these efforts.
The lawsuit accuses Biden administration officials of, among other things, pressuring Big Tech platforms into censoring posts that challenged the administration's official COVID-19 narrative.
Previously, a lower federal court ruled against the Biden administration in this matter. Then, the Biden administration appealed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The appellate court, on Friday, upheld part of the lower court's ruling.
The judges found that the Biden administration pressured Big Tech platforms using "intimidating messages and threats of adverse consequences."
The judges wrote that the Biden administration "significantly encouraged the platforms’ decisions by commandeering their decision-making processes, both in violation of the First Amendment."
The Biden administration now has 10 days to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is unclear, at the time of this writing, whether or not it will do so.
The White House put out a statement, saying:
DOJ is reviewing the court’s decision and will evaluate its options in this case. 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. 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.
The attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri are celebrating the ruling as a victory.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) said:
This is a significant victory for the American people. And, it confirms what we have said from the very beginning: the federal government is not permitted to engage in viewpoint suppression, no matter your political ideology.
