Supreme Court to Hear Suit Claiming Govt. Social Media Censorship

The Court will hear arguments today, Monday, March 18th, over whether the US government did, and can, censor social media content.

  Lawsuit claims the government pressured social media platforms to censor

The lawsuit claims the Federal government pressured, or worked with social media platforms, to censor or remove content that went against government 'narrative'.  According to The Center Square:

"The Biden administration appealed to the nation's highest court after a ruling by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals last September that stated Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, the White House, the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention violated the First Amendment by influencing social media companies in moderating content on COVID-19 and the 2020 election."

The Missouri brief contained 103 pages of factual findings, including 591 footnotes. The brief said the government instituted a broad pressure campaign to suppress, censor, or remove social media content it disfavored.

According to The Center Square:

"The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the government’s appeal on the question of whether the “government’s challenged conduct transformed private social-media companies’ content-moderation decisions into state action” and violated the First Amendment, according to the document granting the case."

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The suit says the Court should ensure that the government cannot do indirectly what it cannot do directly, and that is censor, remove or otherwise quash opinions on social media.