SCOTUS Will Temporarily Allow Biden Administration To Continue Censorship Efforts
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of blocking a lower court order that stopped the Biden administration from coercing social media companies to censor Americans.
The ruling stems from an ongoing court lawsuit filed by the states of Louisiana and Missouri challenging Biden and his team's efforts to censor Americans. Almost immediately after taking office, the administration began coercing social media companies to remove content that contradicted their positions on COVID or other significant issues. Often, those efforts were so extensive that they covered memes shared by social media users.
READ: BIDEN ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS REPEATEDLY DEMANDED FACEBOOK CENSOR USERS FOR COVID MEMES
But the Supreme Court ruled, with just three dissenters, that they would allow the administration to continue their efforts pending the Court hearing the case.
Justice Samuel Alito, one of the dissenters, wrote that the majority's decision was "unfortunate," and could be viewed as a "green light."
“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,” Alito wrote.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks while meeting with the White House Competition Council in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. Photographer: Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Biden Administration Censorship Will Continue, Temporarily
The Supreme Court essentially overruled the lower court in allowing Biden officials to continue contacting social media companies to take down inconvenient information, even if accurate.
This ruling is undoubtedly a setback for free speech, though hopefully a temporary one.
If the Supreme Court does reinstate the lower court's decision after hearing arguments, it would mark a final blow the Biden administration's disgraceful practices. For years, they would "flag" content they disapproved of to Twitter or Meta executives, then angrily follow up and demand to know why that content wasn't removed.
All while not-so-subtly suggesting that Biden was personally interested in ensuring that they complied with the administration's demands.
The lower court, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said that the administration had attempted to "coerce or significantly encourage" removal of protected speech. Hopefully the Supreme Court agrees once they actually hear arguments.
Until then though, watch what you say online; the Biden team is almost certainly back to watching for any dissenting views that make them look bad.