A US federal judge on Tuesday barred some government agencies and officials from contacting companies that own social media networks to discuss moderating their content.
The court decision follows a joint lawsuit by the attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri, both Republicans, who accused government officials of going too far in their attempts to induce social networks to deal with posts they believed could undermine vaccination during the covid pandemic, or advocate changes in the electoral process.
Supporting allegations that these measures were used to censor certain political opinions, thereby violating the First Amendment, Judge Terry Doughty concluded that prosecutors exposed substantive efforts by government agencies, from the White House to federal agencies. , to suppress freedom of expression based on certain content, reports The Washington Post.
In his ruling, the judge placed limits on the powers of the Departments of Justice, State and Health, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More specifically, he placed restrictions on more than a dozen officials, including Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
On the other hand, the judge made some exceptions regarding communications between government officials and media companies, regarding warnings about threats to national security or criminal activities.
The Justice Department is reviewing the court decision and will evaluate options, a White House official said, according to the outlet. with RT