{"id":1954979,"date":"2023-06-23T05:27:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-23T09:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/key-figure-departs-from-biden-administration-accused-of-leading-vast-censorship-enterprise\/"},"modified":"2023-06-23T05:28:47","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T09:28:47","slug":"key-figure-departs-from-biden-administration-accused-of-leading-vast-censorship-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/key-figure-departs-from-biden-administration-accused-of-leading-vast-censorship-enterprise\/","title":{"rendered":"Key figure leaves Biden administration amid accusations of running a massive censorship operation."},"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\">26<\/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%2Fkey-figure-departs-from-biden-administration-accused-of-leading-vast-censorship-enterprise%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=1954979&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--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"aplayer_app\" data-source=\"https:\/\/vs1.youmaker.com\/assets\/2023\/0622\/1886588e-61e2-43a0-93a5-4a63eaf15843\/audio.mp3?length=4311117&#038;duration=359\"><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Key Figure in Biden Administration&#8217;s Social Media Narrative-Shaping Efforts to Leave White House<\/h2>\n<p>President Joe Biden\u2019s digital director Rob Flaherty, a central figure in the administration\u2019s efforts to shape <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-this-average-american-is-voting-for-donald-trump\/\" title=\"Why This Average American Is Voting for Donald Trump\">social media<\/a> narratives as part of a censorship-by-proxy effort, is leaving the White House by the end of the month, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/clinton-campaign-lawyer-gave-sensitive-trump-data-to-cia-special-counsel-claims\/\" title=\"Clinton Campaign Lawyer Gave \u2018Sensitive\u2019 Trump Data to CIA, Special Counsel Claims\">court filing shows<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Flaherty, a veteran of Biden\u2019s 2020 campaign, has been overseeing the biggest-ever White House digital team as the director of the Office of Digital Strategy.<\/p>\n<p>His last day on the job will be June 30, 2023, according to a recent court document (<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.lawd.189520\/gov.uscourts.lawd.189520.287.0.pdf\">pdf<\/a>) filed as part of a lawsuit by Republican attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana that accused the Biden administration of violating the First Amendment by censoring users on social media.<\/p>\n<p>The evidence presented by the plaintiffs\u2014Louisiana attorney general Jeff Landry and Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt\u2014led to the judge overseeing the case <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/judge-orders-fauci-psaki-top-officials-be-deposed-in-big-tech-censorship-case_4813336.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">approving the depositions of eight officials<\/a> believed to be or confirmed to be part of the administration\u2019s censorship campaign, with Flaherty one of those flagged for deposition.<\/p>\n<p>However, due to Flaherty\u2019s imminent departure, his as yet unnamed successor will take his place as a defendant in the lawsuit, per the court document, which was filed in the U.S. District Court Western District of Louisiana on June 16.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Flaherty will no longer hold that position and will no longer be employed in any capacity by the U.S. Government,\u201d the filing states, with the defendants expected to file a notice of substitution once Flaherty\u2019s successor is named.<\/p>\n<p>On the same day as the court filing was made, Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2023\/06\/16\/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-rob-flaherty\/\">also announced<\/a> that Flaherty would be leaving the White House but with no details about the timing and a hint that the two would work together again in some capacity in the future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder Rob\u2019s leadership, we\u2019ve built the largest Office of Digital Strategy in history,\u201d Biden said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis team has pioneered new methods of communication, and operated with unparalleled creativity, innovative spirit and a bias toward action,\u201d the president continued, adding that he looks forward to \u201cour continued work together in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There have been unconfirmed rumors that Flaherty will join Biden\u2019s 2024 reelection campaign. The Epoch Times has reached out to the White House with a request for confirmation but did not receive an immediate reply.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement reacting to news of Flaherty\u2019s imminent departure, the Missouri attorney general <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Eric_Schmitt\/status\/1671728417622880257?s=20\">wrote on social media<\/a>: \u201cRob Flaherty is gone. He was a central figure in the Biden Administration\u2019s vast censorship machine.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Judge to Decide If Government Improperly Censored Social Media Users<\/h2>\n<p>The judge overseeing Landry\u2019s and Schmitt\u2019s suit against the Biden administration in a March ruling (<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.lawd.189520\/gov.uscourts.lawd.189520.224.0.pdf\">pdf<\/a>) refused to dismiss the case, finding Louisiana and Missouri\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/key-figure-departs-from-biden-administration-accused-of-leading-vast-censorship-enterprise\/\" title=\"Key figure leaves Biden administration amid accusations of running a massive censorship operation.\">free-speech claims plausible<\/a> and worthy of further litigation.<\/p>\n<p>The judge, Terry A. Doughty, also permitted the plaintiffs to collect evidence, such as email communications between the White House and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ga-poll-watcher-it-expert-non-trump-supporter-affidavit-sudden-surge-of-20000-mail-in-votes-for-biden-in-early-hours-on-nov\/\" title=\"GA Poll Watcher, IT Expert, Non-Trump Supporter Affidavit: Sudden Surge of 20,000 Mail-In-Votes For Biden In Early Hours On Nov\">social media companies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While there are other lawsuits accusing the Biden administration of censorship-by-proxy by leaning on social media companies to suspend accounts or take down posts, this case has advanced further than any other.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis suit arises out of the alleged coercion by the Biden Administration and various government agencies and officials of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/babylon-bee-censorship-shows-why-fifth-circuit-should-uphold-texas-social-media-law\/\" title=\"Babylon Bee Censorship Shows Why Fifth Circuit Should Uphold Texas\u2019 Social Media Law\">social-media companies<\/a>, urging those companies \u2018to censor viewpoints and speakers disfavored by the Left,&#8217;\u201d the judge wrote in his March ruling that denied the Biden administration\u2019s request to dismiss.<\/p>\n<p>According to the judge, Landry and Schmitt allege that \u201cthis censorship was encouraged\u2014perhaps ev<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Joe Biden&#8217;s digital director, Rob Flaherty, known for shaping social media narratives, will be leaving the White House by the end of the month, according to a court filing. Flaherty, a key figure in Biden&#8217;s 2020 campaign, has been in charge of the largest-ever White House digital operation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":1954980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1954979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954979","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\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1954979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1954980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1954979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1954979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1954979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}