In a victory for free speech celebrated on Independence Day, a Louisiana federal judge issued an order restricting multiple federal entities and specified officials from attempting to influence social media companies’ content moderation processes.
This preemptive action stems from a lawsuit initiated by the states of Missouri and Louisiana, which joined forces with several individuals, including two notable critics of the Covid-19 lockdown regime — Harvard’s Martin Kulldorff and Stanford’s Jay Bhattacharya — and Gateway Pundit owner Jim Hoft.
U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty, commenting on the plaintiffs’ claims, said, “If the allegations made by plaintiffs are true, the present case arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history.” He added that, “The plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits in establishing that the government has used its power to silence the opposition.”
The comprehensive list of those now restrained by the injunction includes President Biden, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and several federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control, the Treasury Department, State Department, the U.S Election Assistance Commission, the FBI and the entire Justice Department, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services.
Both Bhattacharya and Kulldorff, key contributors to the Great Barrington Declaration criticizing the lockdown regime, have been the victims of social media censorship.
They argue that the censor-triggering statements they made include scientifically-supported opinions such as questioning the value of masks, doubting that everyone needs to be vaccinated, and asserting that natural immunity is stronger than vaccine-induced immunity.
Doughty’s ruling does not solely concern Covid-19-related censorship, but also includes the Justice Department’s purported attempts to quash reporting about Hunter Biden’s controversial laptop prior to the 2020 election.
This injunction underscores long-standing allegations that government officials have conspired with social media platforms to quell dissenting voices, specifically those emanating from conservative quarters.
The judge’s 155-page ruling drew a bleak picture of the current state of affairs, noting that “During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth’.”
Doughty further pointed out that the White House had effectively dictated what should be amplified or suppressed to social media companies, who felt compelled to comply due to the enormous pressure exerted by the highest office in the land.
The judge shared snippets from conversations between White House officials and social media employees as illustrative of this concerning dynamic.
These samples revealed blatant efforts to silence certain accounts and highlighted the urgency and vehemence in these requests.
Doughty observed that this coercion was accompanied by threats to alter social media regulation, which held a disturbing level of credibility given the Democratic control of both the White House and Congress.
Evidence of a partnership between the government and social media platforms was provided by the consistent communication and collaborative efforts surrounding this endeavor.
Doughty, a Trump nominee in 2017, wrote, “Many emails between the White House and social-media companies referred to themselves as ‘partners.’
Twitter even sent the White House a ‘Partner Support Portal’ for expedited review of the White House’s requests.”
Consequently, a broad array of agencies and individuals are now barred from contacting social media platforms with any intent to coerce the removal or suppression of content containing protected free speech.
In Doughty’s words, a core tenet of the First Amendment is that “the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”
This ruling offers hope that such principles continue to be upheld in the face of mounting challenges to free speech and is a great gift to the nation on it’s Independence Day.
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