Supreme Court Pauses Ban on Biden Admin’s Communications With Big Tech
The Court agreed to hear the case, which could affect how the First Amendment is applied when it comes to social media.
On the plus side, the Supreme Court will hear the case Missouri v. Biden.
Louisiana, Missouri, and private parties sued the administration for telling social media platforms to remove posts that went against the government’s stances on issues such as COVID.
The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana ruled the plaintiffs would likely prove their case and placed an injunction on the administration from contacting the platforms.
The injunction stops two things:
- The government cannot “coerce” social media platforms to make moderation decisions.
- The government cannot “meaningfully contro[l]” of the platforms’ moderation efforts.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the District Court, finding a “‘a coordinated campaign’ of unprecedented ‘magnitude orchestrated by federal officials that jeopardized a fundamental aspect of American life.’”
The Fifth Circuit also issued a modified injunction.
The government appealed
Alito, instead, extended the injunction.
The government replied for another stay, which came with the petition to hear the case.
This time the Court granted the stay. Justices Alito, Gorsuch, and Thomas dissented.
Alito, writing for the three justices, said the officials had to prove likely irreparable harm if the stay did not happen.
Alito wrote that the government only provided hypothetical statements. This *might* happen. That *might* happen. No proof.
The government also complained the ban would prevent Biden from talking “to the public on matters of concern.”
Alito blasted the assertion because Biden is not the injunction’s subject, nor does it prevent any government official from talking about any matter.
Alito then crushed the majority for staying the injunction:
Despite the Government’s conspicuous failure to establish a threat of irreparable harm, the majority stays the injunction and thus allows the defendants to persist in committing the type of First Amendment violations that the lower courts identified. The majority takes this action in the face of the lower courts’ detailed findings of fact. But “[w]here an intermediate court reviews, and affirms, a trial court’s factual findings, this Court will not ‘lightly overturn’ the concurrent findings of the two lower courts.”
In conclusion, Alito fears what the government can do between now and the time the Supreme Court rules on the case:
At this time in the history of our country, what the Court has done, I fear, will be seen by some as giving the Government a green light to use heavy-handed tactics to skew the presentation of views on the medium that increasingly dominates the dissemination of news. That is most unfortunate.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Social media’s coverage of the Supreme Court will most likely turn favorable now.
Supreme Court to Biden: “We’ve got your back.”
Supreme Court to US citizens. “We got your back–and we just stuck a knife in it.”
The majority is far too deferential to government. They don’t seem to understand one of their jobs is to beat back government when they overstep their legal authority,
They’ll find that they were wrong and overturn their stance in 120 years when just the right case forms that they need to prove government overreach.
If the government prevails here, the USA as we know it won’t exist in 120 years. At the rate we’re going I’d give it less than 120 months.
“The majority is far too deferential to government.”
And begs a question: Even if Chevron is reigned in or overthrown, what will change?
Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Barrett—looking at you.
Do you really believe the Federal Government is likely to win this case on the merits?
Or that it won’t continue its censorship and information operations while the case is pending?
Someone is physically threatening Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, or their families. They have been bowing to the deep state (some longer than others), and it shows.
Very disappointing that the majority would grant a stay which seems to ignore the detailed record at the district CT and the review at the 5th Circuit. Lots of shenanigans will ensue from this until a final ruling, which after this, I have my doubts about.
If this in not affirmed by the Supreme Court, then I will feel like giving up on this country. Portugal or Slovenia, here I come.
OK, Cher.
Except Wisewerds might actually do it.
People have a right to live where they want. Given the demoralizing subversion and evisceration of American values and freedoms by the vile Dhimmi-crats over the past forty years, I wouldn’t blame any citizen who sought to live abroad.
The widespread and gleeful public support expressed for genocidal and sadistic Muslim supremacists and terrorists in Congress, the media and in academia is merely one indication of the profound moral and cultural rot spread by Dhimmi-crats throughout all facets of American society.
Missing the point entirely.
I am already building a house half way around the world.
The federal government is the greatest enemy that America has ever faced. Americans are going to have to come together to figure out how to deal with it decisively and finally.
the French knew just how to take care of an opprobrious government back in the 18th Century
They rebelled against the King and the aristocracy, installed and overthrew a series of half-assed semi-socialist governments, and eventually install Napoleon as emperor.
10+ years of revolution, counterrevolution, blood, warfare, starvation, death, and they ended up right where they started.
I think we can skip that.
Pretty sad to see judges go out of their way to ignore the lower proceedings.
More evidence that the rule of law is perverted. Hope the plaintiffs ask for reconsideration. They are the ones that will suffer irreparable harm.
I suspect that non lawyers do not know your reference, but during the Gore/Bush case, we witnessed multiple appellate courts totally ignore the Findings Of Facts of the trial court . I knew then that Justice was dead in America.n
Gotta keep the war propaganda goin’!
Of course the Marxists on the Supreme Court agreed on censorship, can’t complete a takeover of the county without it.