{"id":1466580,"date":"2022-05-06T12:59:34","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T16:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1466580"},"modified":"2022-05-06T12:59:38","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T16:59:38","slug":"two-states-sue-biden-admin-for-pressuring-and-colluding-with-big-tech-to-censor-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/two-states-sue-biden-admin-for-pressuring-and-colluding-with-big-tech-to-censor-free-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Two States Sue Biden Admin for \u201cPressuring and Colluding\u201d With Big Tech to Censor Free Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftwo-states-sue-biden-admin-for-pressuring-and-colluding-with-big-tech-to-censor-free-speech%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1466580&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Two Republican-led states have filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/ago.mo.gov\/docs\/default-source\/press-releases\/mo-la-v-biden-filed-petition.pdf?sfvrsn=3d20bca5_2\">lawsuit<\/a> against President Joe Biden, White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and other top administration officials for allegedly pressuring and colluding with social media giants with the aim of censoring and suppressing free speech.<\/p>\n<p>Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on April 5, they announced in separate statements on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The attorneys claim that Biden and other government officials worked with big tech companies like Meta, Twitter, and YouTube to censor conversation around matters relating to everything from\u00a0COVID-19 and election integrity to the Hunter Biden laptop story, doing so under\u00a0the guise of combating \u201cmisinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others named in the lawsuit include\u00a0Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and the executive director of DHS\u2019s newly established \u201cDisinformation Governance Board,\u201d Nina Jankowicz.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u00a0(CDC), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, and Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Jen Easterly are also listed as defendants.<\/p>\n<p>In announcing the lawsuit on Thursday, attorney Schmitt stressed the importance of freedom of speech which he said is \u201cparamount to a healthy society,\u201d adding that \u201cdiscourse, debate, and discussion have been the cornerstone of our country since the Founders codified that right in the Bill of Rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Schmitt stated that Americans use social media platforms to discuss an array of topics, noting that those topics have more recently, in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic, conversations regarding whether or not face coverings are effective in preventing the virus from spreading and whether the virus origins came from a lab leak in Wuhan, China.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4447455\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/05\/05\/GettyImages-1395406307-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4447455\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/05\/05\/GettyImages-1395406307-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a White House daily press briefing at the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on May 04, 2022. (Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4337726\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/03\/15\/fauci-with-finger-up-1200x800.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-4337726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/fauci-with-finger-up-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4337726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/fauci-with-finger-up-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, responds to questions during a congressional hearing in Washington in a file image. (Greg Nash\/Pool via Reuters)<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIn direct contravention to the First Amendment and freedom of speech, the Biden Administration has been engaged in a pernicious campaign to both pressure social media giants to censor and suppress speech and work directly with those platforms to achieve that censorship in a misguided and Orwellian campaign against \u2018misinformation,&#8217;\u201d said Schmitt, referencing George Orwell\u2019s\u00a0dystopian novel about a\u00a0totalitarian state, 1984.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit filed on Thursday specifically accuses Biden and other\u00a0government officials of working with big tech companies to remove \u201ctruthful information related to the lab-leak theory, the efficacy of masks, election integrity, and more,\u201d\u00a0Schmitt said.<\/p>\n<p>It also accuses Biden and other officials of \u201cfalsely\u201d attacking the Hunter Biden laptop story as \u201cdisinformation\u201d along with tech giants like Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>The story, which was first published by the New York Post in October 2020, detailed the\u00a0contents of Hunter Biden\u2019s laptop that was abandoned in a Delaware computer repair shop, and which included compromising pictures and emails regarding allegedly corrupt foreign business deals.<\/p>\n<p>Twitter labeled the story as \u201cpotentially harmful\u201d and\u00a0locked the New York Post\u2019s main Twitter account while simultaneously blocking Twitter users from publishing the link to the story.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4304932\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/27\/Hunter-Biden-1200x675-1200x675.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-4304932\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Hunter-Biden-1200x675-600x338-1.jpg\" alt=\"Joe Biden\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4304932\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Hunter-Biden-1200x675-600x338-1.jpg\" alt=\"Joe Biden\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Hunter Biden attends his father Joe Biden\u2019s inauguration as the 46th President of the United States on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst\/Pool\/Reuters)<\/figure>\n<p>The\u00a0New York Times\u00a0and the\u00a0Washington Post\u00a0have since acknowledged the existence of Hunter Biden\u2019s laptop and emails.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBig Tech has become an extension of Biden\u2019s Big Government, and neither are protecting the freedoms of Americans; rather, they are suppressing truth and demonizing those who think differently,\u201d said\u00a0Attorney General Landry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRipped from the playbook of Stalin and his ilk, Biden has been colluding with Big Tech to censor free speech and propagandize the masses. We are fighting back to ensure the rule of law and prevent the government from unconstitutional banning, chilling, and stifling of speech.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit alleges that the federal government violated Missourians\u2019, Louisianans\u2019, and Americans\u2019 First Amendment rights and \u201ccoerced, threatened, and pressured social-media platforms to censor disfavored speakers and viewpoints by using threats of adverse government action.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a result of those threats, the lawsuit states, the defendants \u201care now directly colluding with social-media platforms to censor disfavored speakers and viewpoints, including by pressuring them to censor certain content and speakers, and \u2018flagging\u2019 disfavored content and speakers for censorship. These actions violate the First Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The attorneys asked the court to declare that Biden and other defendants violated the First Amendment, exceeded\u00a0their statutory authority, and to stop the officials from continuing to engage in their \u201cunlawful\u201d conduct.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, they claim that the DHS and HHS officials\u2019 conduct violates the Administrative Procedure Act.<\/p>\n<p>The Epoch Times has contacted a White House Spokesperson for comment.<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-katabella-roberts\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ttl7dayERL_WEB_KatabellaRoberts.jpg\" alt=\"Katabella Roberts\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Katabella Roberts is a reporter currently based in Turkey. She covers news and business for The Epoch Times, focusing primarily on the United States.\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two Republican-led states have filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden, White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and other top administration officials for allegedly pressuring and colluding<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1466580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1466580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1466580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1466580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1466580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1466580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1466580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}