A federal court added the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to the list of agencies barred from speaking with social media companies about content moderation and misinformation as part of a major case relating to free speech and Big Tech platforms.

The 5th Circuit decided on Tuesday to expand its injunction restricting federal agencies from communicating with specific social media platforms about misinformation to include CISA. The court expanded the injunction after the Louisiana and Missouri state attorneys general filed a request on Sept. 22 asking that the court consider rehearing their case, Missouri v. Biden, and adding CISA and two other organizations to the list.

DEMOCRATS HAVE A CHOICE TO MAKE ON MCCARTHY'S SPEAKERSHIP TOO

The court concluded that CISA did more than share information with platforms like Facebook and Twitter and that its actions led to the companies changing their content moderation policies and, by extension, content being removed or demoted. The court concluded that CISA "significantly encouraged" social platforms to "censor disfavored speech," including through threats of "adverse government reaction."

Louisiana-based U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty issued an order in July that limited the federal government's communications with social media companies about virtually all content. The subsequent 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling by a three-judge panel on Sept. 11 agreed with the decision. However, it narrowed the number of government-affiliated entities affected by the decision to just the White House, surgeon general, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FBI. The Biden administration appealed the ruling on Sept. 14, asking that the Supreme Court put the decision on hold until it can file a petition for review. The Supreme Court was scheduled to rule on whether to uphold or reverse the 5th Circuit's decision on Sept. 22 but extended the self-imposed deadline until Sept. 27, although the court has not ruled on the matter since the deadline.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Last year, Republican attorneys general in Missouri and Louisiana filed the suit, along with four individual plaintiffs who alleged that their social media posts about the COVID-19 lab leak theory and vaccine side effects were removed or suppressed.

Federal agencies "coerced, threatened, and pressured social-media platforms to censor" them in violation of the First Amendment, the states claimed in their ruling.