Tag: Missouri v. Biden

Commentary: SCOTUS Takes Up Free Speech Case, Putting Biden Administration’s Censorship Regime on Trial

Arizona Sun Times Staff

Late Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Missouri v. Biden, a case that may end the Biden administration’s circumvention of the First Amendment by outsourcing censorship to Big Tech. The case was initially filed by the states of Missouri and Louisiana, along with various private plaintiffs who allege that social media platforms censored them at the behest of federal agencies. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty ruled for the plaintiffs on July 4, enjoining the agencies from communicating with platforms about “content moderation.” The Biden administration sought relief from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and lost again, making a Supreme Court clash inevitable.

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Supreme Court Takes Up Landmark Government Censorship Case

Arizona Sun Times Staff

The Supreme Court on Friday took up Missouri v. Biden, the free speech case challenging the Biden administration’s efforts to censor content on social media, while issuing a pause on a preliminary injunction granted by a lower court.

Republican attorneys general from Missouri and Louisiana sued the Biden administration over its communications with social media companies related to the suppression of online speech, arguing it violated the First Amendment. District of Louisiana Judge Terry A. Doughty issued an injunction in July blocking certain parts of President Joe Biden’s administration from colluding with social media platforms to censor content online. The Supreme Court paused the injunction, but agreed to take up the case, according to the court order.

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‘Legal’ Concerns Halt NIH $154 Million ‘False Information’ Program

Arizona Sun Times Staff

The National Institutes of Health halted a $154 million research program intended to study “equitable health communication” and combat alleged medical misinformation.

The “pause” came “in the context of the current regulatory and legal landscape around communication platforms,” according to a website for the initiative.

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Arizona House Launches Censorship Probe after Hobbs’ Big Tech Emails Go Public

Tom Pappert

The Arizona House has launched an investigation into the censorship requests by Governor Katie Hobbs, including those revealed by Arizona Capitol Oversight, and those made by other state government officials.

House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) created the panel late last week, enlisting Representative Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) to serve as its chair. In what Kolodin called “an interesting coincidence,” the panel was created the same day Arizona Capitol Oversight released an 8 page report revealing several of Hobbs’ censorship requests to Facebook and Twitter, including one against a member of the Arizona Legislature.

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State Representative Kolodin Promises House Review After AG Mayes Joins Coalition for Government Censorship

Tom Pappert

State Representative Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) promised the Arizona House would examine Attorney General Kris Mayes’ decision to join a coalition of attorneys general seeking to restore the government’s ability to communicate censorship requests to social media websites.

“Labeling speech dangerous and calling for it to be suppressed is the first act of tyrants,” Kolodin wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in response to Mayes’ decision to join the coalition. He added that the Arizona House “will be taking a very close look” at the move.

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Censorship Case Involving State Collusion with Social Media Companies Could Be Heard by the Supreme Court

Arizona Sun Times Staff

The Supreme Court could hear a case questioning a California agency’s coordination with Twitter to censor election-related “misinformation.”

O’Handley v. Weber, which concerns the California Secretary of State’s Office of Election Cybersecurity’s work with Twitter to monitor “false or misleading” election information, was appealed to the Supreme Court on June 8. The case raises questions similar to those posed in the free speech lawsuit Missouri v. Biden, now being appealed in the Fifth Circuit: Can the government lawfully induce private actors to censor protected speech?

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Commentary: Censorship Is More Dangerous Than Disinformation

Arizona Sun Times Staff

The First Amendment is under assault by the very people entrusted to protect it. The Biden administration and the corporate media removed any doubt about this after a July 4 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Terry A. Doughty. Evidence revealed during the discovery process in Missouri v. Biden convinced the judge that administration officials illegally pressured social media platforms to censor disfavored views. Doughty issued a 155-page opinion and an injunction prohibiting federal officials from “pressuring or coercing social-media companies in any manner to remove, delete, suppress, or reduce posted content of postings containing protected free speech.”

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Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Calls for Federal Investigation Over Emails from Arizona Sec State Hobbs to Twitter

Eric Burk

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) wants a federal investigation in Arizona where Kari Lake is disputing results of the gubernatorial election against Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, whose office reports preliminary results that Hobbs has won 50.3 percent to 49.6 percent. Greene’s call was also a reaction to a post of emails showing that Hobbs’ office reported misinformation tweets to Twitter on January 7, 2021.

“The SOS of AZ and Gov candidate, Katie Hobbs, used the power of the AZ SOS to collude w/ Twitter to unconstitutionally violate 1st Amendment rights of Americans for her own political gain. This is communism and Hobbs can not be governor. I’m calling for a Federal investigation,” Greene tweeted Sunday morning.

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