Federal Appeals Court Rules Biden Administration May Have Coerced Social Media Giants, Raising Free Speech Concerns

WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court has ruled that the White House, health officials, and the FBI may have violated First Amendment rights by pressuring social media technology companies to suppress or remove posts related to COVID-19 and elections. The decision, issued late Friday by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, partially affirmed a prior order from a Louisiana federal judge that had prevented numerous federal agencies from contacting companies like Facebook, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter) regarding content moderation.

The ruling, outlined in a 75-page opinion by a three-judge panel, also significantly narrowed the scope of the order, which had been seen as a significant victory for conservatives. The Biden administration now has 10 days to request a Supreme Court review of the decision.

As of now, neither the White House nor the Justice Department has issued an immediate response to the ruling.

The lawsuit leading to this decision was filed by the states of Louisiana and Missouri, along with a conservative website owner and four individuals who opposed the administration’s COVID-19 policies. The lawsuit alleged that government officials had pressured social media platforms into removing contentious content, including posts related to election fraud, the FBI’s handling of Hunter Biden’s laptop, and the COVID pandemic.

The 5th Circuit panel determined that the White House had coerced the platforms through “intimidating messages and threats of adverse consequences” and had interfered with the decision-making processes of social media companies, particularly concerning pandemic and 2020 election-related posts.

The judges stated, “It is true that the officials have an interest in engaging with social media companies, including on issues such as misinformation and election interference. But the government is not permitted to advance these interests to the extent that it engages in viewpoint suppression.”

The appeals court scaled back the broad scope of U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty’s initial July 4 ruling, which had characterized the lawsuit as “the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history.” Additionally, the court removed certain agencies from the order, including the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, and the State Department. The judges found that many government officials within these agencies were “permissibly exercising government speech.”

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, in a post on X, hailed Friday’s ruling as a significant victory against censorship and the Biden administration. Meanwhile, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey celebrated the decision on X, noting that “the Fifth Circuit has upheld the district court’s order in our free speech case, Missouri v. Biden, enjoining the White House, Surgeon General, CDC, & FBI from violating the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans.”

Administration officials have defended their efforts to combat COVID misinformation and maintain that they routinely alert social media companies about illegal activities such as human trafficking or terrorism.

A White House official previously stated in July, “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.”