{"id":1995649,"date":"2023-08-09T16:30:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T20:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conservative-groups-counter-biden-admins-social-media-censorship-in-court\/"},"modified":"2023-08-09T16:32:45","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T20:32:45","slug":"conservative-groups-counter-biden-admins-social-media-censorship-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conservative-groups-counter-biden-admins-social-media-censorship-in-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservative groups challenge Biden administration&#8217;s social media censorship in court."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/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%2Fconservative-groups-counter-biden-admins-social-media-censorship-in-court%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=1995649&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--><h2>Conservative Groups Counter Biden Admin&#8217;s Social Media Censorship in Court<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. District\u2062 Court Judge Terry Doughty \u200dissued a\u200c preliminary injunction \u200don July 4 preventing the \u200dfederal government from \u2062suppressing \u200cfree speech \u2062by \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/miranda-devine-the-medias-silence-on-the-twitter-files-is-shameful\/\" title=\"Miranda Devine: The Media\u2019s Silence on the \u201cTwitter Files\u201d Is Shameful\">coercing social media companies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But the Department of Justice was able to get the injunction in Missouri \u2064v. Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/appeals-court-halts-order-barring-biden-administration-communications-social-media-companies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lifted<\/a> on July 14, at least temporarily, by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as the case makes its way through the legal system.<\/p>\n<p>Doughty previously rejected the government\u2019s request for a stay of\u2064 the injunction, writing in a\u200d July 10 <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.bwbx.io\/documents\/users\/iqjWHBFdfxIU\/r43z1giqprb0\/v0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">order<\/a>, \u201cAlthough this Preliminary Injunction involves\u2063 numerous agencies, it is not as broad \u200das it appears.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt only prohibits \u200csomething the Defendants have no \u2062legal right to do\u2064 \u2014 contacting social media companies for the\u2062 purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner, the removal, deletion,\u200c suppression, or reduction of content containing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-bars-biden-press-secretary-from-flagging-posts-for-big-tech-to-censor-two-years-after-admin-bragged-about-it\/\" title=\"Judge prohibits Biden press secretary from flagging posts for Big Tech censorship, despite previous administration's pride in the practice.\">protected free speech posted<\/a> on social-media platforms,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Multiple conservative groups \u2014 including Leadership Institute, Eagle Forum, Gun Owners of America and The Western Journal \u2014 have now filed an\u200c amicus\u2062 brief at \u200cthe 5th Circuit seeking to have the injunction against the\u200b federal \u200bgovernment reimposed.<\/p>\n<p>They argued that anti-conservative viewpoint suppression was \u2063a major issue during the 2020\u2062 election when the FBI worked closely with \u200dsocial media platforms like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/2020-election-bombshell-zuckerberg-confesses-helping-fbi-interfering-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> and\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/musk-just-drops-bombshell-hunter-biden-laptop-twitter-files\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> to prevent reports on the Hunter Biden \u200b\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/whistleblower-drops-bombshell-fbi-knew-hunter-bidens-laptop-real-deal-months-made-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">laptop from hell<\/a>\u201d from circulating.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration leaned \u200dheavily on these\u200b companies and others like Google (the owner of YouTube) to prevent the spread of \u201cmisinformation,\u201d \u200bas defined by federal officials, about such issues as the efficacy of\u2062 COVID vaccines and \u2064mask \u200dmandates, the COVID lab leak theory, and the integrity of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/fried-jack-smith-ignore-damning-facts-undermine-trump-indictment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2020 election<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Missouri\u200b v. Biden \u2014 brought by the states of Missouri and Louisiana and other plaintiffs \u2014 not \u2062only \u200dnames President Joe Biden as a defendant but many officials\u2063 in his administration, including\u200d former director\u2063 of the \u200dNational Institute\u2063 of\u2064 Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. \u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/rand-paul-announces-criminal-referral-dr-fauci-got-evidence-back\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Anthony Fauci<\/a> and officials from the FBI,\u200b the Centers\u200c for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department \u200bof\u200d Homeland \u2062Security.<\/p>\n<p>In \u2064his July 4 <a href=\"https:\/\/casetext.com\/case\/missouri-v-biden-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ruling<\/a>, Doughty held\u200c that the plaintiffs \u201care likely to succeed on the merits \u2063 [of] their claim\u200c that\u2062 the United States \u2064Government, through the White House and numerous federal agencies, pressured and encouraged social-media companies to suppress free speech,\u201d and therefore a preliminary injunction was appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>The judge noted the many forms that government pressure took, including regular meetings with social media \u200bexecutives, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/white-house-admits-flagging-problematic-posts-facebook\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">flagged posts<\/a>, requests for certain types of posts to be removed, \u200band directives requiring reports of the posts\u200b that\u2063 had been taken down.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThis\u200b seemingly unrelenting pressure by Defendants had the intended result of suppressing \u200cmillions of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/missouri-v-biden-proves-corporate-media-lied-about-big-techs-censorship-crusade-against-conservatives\/\" title=\"Missouri v. Biden exposes media's falsehoods on Big Tech's conservative censorship.\">protected free speech postings<\/a> by\u200b American citizens,\u201d Doughty wrote. \u201cFaced \u200cwith unrelenting pressure\u200d from the most powerful office in the world, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conservative-groups-counter-biden-admins-social-media-censorship-in-court\/\" title=\"Conservative groups challenge Biden administration's social media censorship in court.\">social-media companies apparently complied<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The judge further \u200dnoted, \u201cWhat is really telling is\u200c that virtually all of the free speech suppressed was \u2018conservative\u2019 free speech.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Doughty explained,\u2062 \u201cThe principal function\u2063 of free\u2064 speech under the United States\u2019 system\u200b of government is\u200c to invite dispute; it may indeed \u200dbest serve its \u2064high purpose when it induces a condition of \u200dunrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they \u2062are, or even stirs people to anger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/SOCIAL-MEDIA-5TH-CIRCUIT-APPEAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">legal brief<\/a> to\u200d the 5th Circuit \u2063arguing \u200bagainst Doughty\u2019s injunction, the\u200d DOJ wrote, \u200c\u201cPresidents and other officials have long exercised the power of persuasion to advance their \u200cvision of the public good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Communicating \u200cthe government\u2019s\u2062 wishes to \u200bsocial media companies to \u200bsuppress certain speech was merely an\u200b extension of that type of\u2063 advocacy, \u2063the department argued.<\/p>\n<p>Further, \u201cOne of the \u2063central prerogatives of the\u2064 President\u2062 and \u200dExecutive Branch officials\u200b is to\u200b speak to members of the American public \u2014 including American companies\u200b \u2014 about how they can help mitigate \u2062threats to the Nation,\u201d the DOJ \u200dsaid.<\/p>\n<p>However, the \u2063conservative groups observed in their amicus brief, \u2062\u201cThe government appears to have\u200b forgotten what [James] Madison explained so clearly, that: \u2018the censorial power is in the people over\u200c the government, and not in the government over the people.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In other\u200c words, the government should not be in the business of censoring people either\u2064 directly \u200bor indirectly by \u200bplacing a heavy\u200c hand on social media companies.<\/p>\n<p>The\u2062 conservative groups concluded, \u201cThe administrative stay should be lifted, and the district court\u2019s injunction should \u200dbe put back into effect. The\u2064 practice of censorship by the national government must \u200cbe brought to an end, before it destroys the \u200dvery foundations \u200bof our constitutional republic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Liberal organizations the Brennan Center for Justice, Common Cause and the Lawyers\u2019 Committee for Civil \u200cRights Under Law filed\u200b an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brennancenter.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2023-08\/MO%20v%20Biden%20amicus%20%287-28-23%29_0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">amicus brief<\/a> arguing against\u200c the \u200dinjunction being reimposed.<\/p>\n<p>Those \u2062groups argued \u2064that \u2062Doughty\u2019s injunction is \u201coverbroad\u201d and\u2063 does not provide enough guidance \u2063regarding what communication by the government is prohibited.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/conservative-groups-counter-biden-admins-social-media-censorship-court\/\">Conservative \u200dGroups Counter Biden Admin&#8217;s Social Media Censorship in Court<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The \u2064Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty&#8217;s preliminary injunction on July 4 barred the federal government from stifling free speech through social media coercion. However, the Department of Justice temporarily lifted the injunction in Missouri v. Biden on July 14, thanks to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":1995650,"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":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1995649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"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\/1995649","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\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1995649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1995649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1995650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1995649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1995649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1995649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}