The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans has ruled on Friday that the Biden administration may have run afoul of the First Amendment in its efforts to exert pressure on social media platforms regarding contentious COVID-19 content.
This ruling has sparked debate over the government’s role in regulating online speech.
A panel of judges, all GOP nominees, concluded that the White House, health officials, and the FBI may have infringed on First Amendment rights by pressuring technology companies to suppress or remove content related to COVID-19 and the 2020 election, Fox news reported.
The judges argued, in their 75-page verdict, that these efforts amounted to coercion, potentially violating free speech rights.
The panel of judges, which is made up of two Bush nominees and one Trump nominee, asserted that it is inappropriate for President Biden, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the FBI, and the surgeon general to exert pressure on social media platforms to remove content they deemed troublesome.
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