{"id":2330387,"date":"2024-08-24T07:14:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-24T11:14:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rfk-jr-cleared-to-take-on-biden-censorship-after-supreme-court-punted-issue-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-08-24T07:21:53","modified_gmt":"2024-08-24T11:21:53","slug":"rfk-jr-cleared-to-take-on-biden-censorship-after-supreme-court-punted-issue-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rfk-jr-cleared-to-take-on-biden-censorship-after-supreme-court-punted-issue-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"RFK Jr. cleared to take on Biden censorship after Supreme Court punted issue &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"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%2Frfk-jr-cleared-to-take-on-biden-censorship-after-supreme-court-punted-issue-washington-examiner%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=2330387&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>In a\u2062 recent ruling, a Louisiana district court allowed Robert F. Kennedy\u200b Jr. and his organization, Children\u2019s\u2064 Health Defense (CHD), to sue the Biden administration for allegedly pressuring <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> platforms to censor \u200dtheir posts. This decision comes after a similar \u2062case,\u200c known as Murthy \u200bv. Missouri,\u2062 where the\u200c Supreme Court\u2062 determined \u2063that plaintiffs lacked sufficient evidence of direct \u2064harm caused by the\u2063 government&#8217;s actions \u200dto establish legal standing.<\/p>\n<p>U.S.\u2062 District Judge Terry Doughty, in \u200dthe Kennedy \u200dcase, found that\u2062 Kennedy \u200band CHD met the criteria \u200bfor legal standing,\u200b indicating that there was sufficient evidence showing government officials\u2064 directly \u200drequested the suppression of their content\u200c on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Doughty noted that this \u2062censorship \u200dstemmed from a coordinated\u200d effort by the government\u2064 against what it considered misinformation related\u2063 to COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>Kim \u200bMack Rosenberg, CHD&#8217;s general\u2062 counsel, praised the ruling \u200cfor acknowledging the direct impact of government actions on their communication abilities, a recognition missing\u200c in the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision \u200cin the Murthy \u2062case. \u200dThe ruling \u200bhighlights specific instances where Kennedy and CHD faced\u2064 targeted \u200dcensorship due\u200b to their views on controversial issues such as vaccine mandates.<\/p>\n<p>This case marks a significant development in\u2064 the ongoing discussions and legal \u2063battles surrounding censorship and free speech, particularly regarding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/progressive-policies-need-to-be-fought-off-by-states-rep-steube\/\" title=\"Progressive Policies Need to Be Fought Off by States: Rep. Steube\">content moderation practices<\/a> by <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> in coordination \u2062with government actions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">RFK Jr. cleared to take on Biden censorship after Supreme Court punted issue<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1735602\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/louisiana\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Louisiana<\/a> district court ruled this week that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/rfk-jr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a> and his charity Children&rsquo;s Health Defense have the legal right to sue the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Biden administration<\/a> for allegedly pressuring tech giants to censor their social media posts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The decision marks the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pennsylvania-court-wont-force-release-of-voter-info-for-gop-led-2020-election-probe\/\" title=\"Pennsylvania Court Won\u2019t Force Release of Voter Info for GOP-Led 2020 Election Probe\">latest major development<\/a> in anti-censorship litigation, following the June Supreme Court ruling in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2576209\/murthy-v-missouri-could-have-major-ramifications-for-big-tech-and-free-speech\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Murthy v. Missouri\">Murthy v. Missouri<\/a><\/em>, where a 6-3 majority struck down a similar injunction against the Biden administration, saying that the plaintiffs lacked standing due to insufficient evidence of direct injury caused by the government&rsquo;s actions.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks to reporters at the Nassau County Supreme Court in Mineola, New York, on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo\/Stefan Jeremiah, Pool)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the <em>Murthy<\/em> case, the Supreme Court determined that the plaintiffs, two states and five social media users, could not directly tie any content moderation to the government. The court also found that the plaintiffs failed to show a substantial risk of future injury that could be attributed to government actions, a requirement necessary to establish legal standing.<\/p>\n<p>But in the <em>Kennedy v. Biden<\/em> case, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, nominated by former President Donald Trump, <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.lawd.198699\/gov.uscourts.lawd.198699.56.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>issued a decision<\/a> late on Tuesday, concluding that Kennedy and CHD, a charity labeled by critics as &ldquo;anti-vaccine,&rdquo; met the criteria for standing. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Court finds that Kennedy is likely to succeed on his claim that suppression of content<br \/>posted was caused by actions of Government Defendants, and there is a substantial risk that he will suffer similar injury in the near future,&rdquo; Doughty wrote in a 20-page decision.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling pointed to evidence that Kennedy and his charity had been directly censored on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube due to deliberate requests by government officials to suppress their content. This censorship, according to Doughty, could be traced back to direct communications and instructions from government officials to these platforms.<\/p>\n<p>Kim Mack Rosenberg, CHD&rsquo;s general counsel, praised the ruling, noting that the court&rsquo;s analysis led to the &ldquo;correct conclusion with respect to standing for CHD and Mr. Kennedy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Rosenberg emphasized that the court not only recognized the validity of the plaintiffs&rsquo; claims but also acknowledged the direct impact of government actions on their ability to communicate on social media, a factor the Supreme Court&rsquo;s majority was unable to do in the <em>Murthy <\/em>case.<\/p>\n<p>Doughty highlighted specific instances where Kennedy and CHD were targeted by the government for their views on COVID-19-related issues, such as vaccine mandates and lockdowns. These actions were part of a broader effort by the government to combat what it labeled as &ldquo;misinformation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Notably, the Trump-appointed district court judge in the <em>Kennedy <\/em>case is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/1140371\/biden-officials-blocked-from-colluding-with-big-tech-in-major-censorship-case-judge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>same judge<\/a> who blocked contact between Biden administration officials in the <em>Murthy <\/em>case on July 4 of last year in response to a lawsuit from Republican attorneys general in Missouri and Louisiana.<\/p>\n<p>In the 6-3 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/23pdf\/23-411_3dq3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>opinion<\/a> authored by conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett in June, she wrote that the majority could not find standing for the plaintiffs who claimed to be censored due to &ldquo;traceability&rdquo; issues in the evidence presented at trial.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;While the record reflects that the Government defendants played a role in at least some of the platforms&rsquo; moderation choices, the evidence indicates that the platforms had independent incentives to moderate content and often exercised their own judgment,&rdquo; Barrett wrote in a decision joined by two conservative members, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, as well as liberals such as Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.<\/p>\n<p>What&rsquo;s more, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-overturns-chevron-doctrine-upends-administrative-state\/\" title=\"SCOTUS Overturns Chevron Doctrine, Upends Administrative State\">high court&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s majority decision said the decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that maintained parts of Doughty&rsquo;s injunction &ldquo;glossed over complexities in the evidence.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>The underlying basis for standing that Barrett and others said the plaintiffs in Murthy failed to reach is this: &ldquo;A threshold showing that a particular defendant pressured a particular platform to censor a particular topic <em>before<\/em> that platform suppressed a particular plaintiff&rsquo;s speech on that topic.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kennedy&rsquo;s case now moves back to the 5th Circuit, where Doughty&rsquo;s preliminary injunction against the Biden administration will be reviewed.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the attorneys working on the <em>Murthy <\/em>case are still working on additional discovery requests in light of the Supreme Court&rsquo;s decision, and Doughty&rsquo;s ruling for Kennedy is likely to help attorneys&rsquo; efforts to find standing for the plaintiffs in the case that was decided by the Supreme Court earlier this summer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1735602\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1735602\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Louisiana district court has determined that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his organization, Children\u2019s Health Defense, can legally pursue a lawsuit against the Biden administration for purportedly pressuring technology companies to censor their social media content. This ruling represents a significant advancement in anti-censorship legal actions, following the Supreme Court&#8217;s June decision in Murthy v. Missouri, where a 6-3 majority dismissed a similar injunction against the Biden administration due to plaintiffs lacking sufficient evidence of direct harm from government actions.<\/p>\n<p>In the Murthy case, the Supreme Court concluded that two states and five social media users could not directly link any moderation of content to government influence and failed to demonstrate a significant risk of future harm attributable to government actions\u2014criteria necessary for establishing legal standing.<\/p>\n<p>However, in Kennedy v. Biden, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty\u2014appointed by former President Donald Trump\u2014ruled that Kennedy and his charity met the standing requirements. In his 20-page decision issued on Tuesday, Doughty stated that there is a strong likelihood Kennedy will succeed in proving that governmental actions led to suppression of their content and noted there is considerable risk he may face similar injuries soon.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling cited evidence indicating that Kennedy and Children\u2019s Health Defense had been directly censored on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube as a result of explicit requests from government officials aimed at suppressing their messages. Kim Mack Rosenberg, general counsel for CHD, commended the ruling for recognizing both the legitimacy of their claims and how government actions impacted their ability to communicate online\u2014a point overlooked by the Supreme Court&#8217;s majority in Murthy.<\/p>\n<p>Doughty&#8217;s decision highlighted specific instances where Kennedy and CHD were targeted by governmental efforts related to COVID-19 topics such as vaccine mandates and lockdowns as part of an initiative against what was deemed &#8220;misinformation.&#8221; Notably, Doughty is also responsible for blocking communication between Biden administration officials during last year&#8217;s Murthy case after it was brought forth by Republican attorneys general from Missouri and Louisiana.<\/p>\n<p>In June&#8217;s opinion authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett for the conservative majority\u2014which included Chief Justice John Roberts along with Justices Brett Kavanaugh\u2014and supported by liberal justices\u2014the court found insufficient evidence linking specific pressures from defendants leading platforms to censor particular topics before those platforms restricted speech related to those subjects.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy&#8217;s case will now return to review at the 5th Circuit Court following Doughty&#8217;s preliminary injunction against Biden\u2019s administration while attorneys involved with Murthy continue pursuing additional discovery based on this summer&#8217;s Supreme Court ruling; Doughty&#8217;s recent decision may bolster efforts toward establishing standing for plaintiffs involved in that earlier case<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2330388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/RFK-LAWSUIT-scaled-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[39175,32458,32275,32076],"class_list":["post-2330387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-biden-censorship","tag-rfk-jr","tag-supreme-court","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/RFK-LAWSUIT-scaled-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2330387","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\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2330387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2330387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2330388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2330387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2330387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2330387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}