Tuesday, a federal court in Louisiana reportedly barred the Biden administration from informing social media platforms about a wide range of internet content.
This decision may limit the government’s ability to battle false and misleading information on the coronavirus epidemic and other topics.
The ruling is a significant move in a protracted judicial battle about the parameters and restrictions of internet expression, and it may have important First Amendment ramifications.
Republicans who have frequently claimed that social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube unfairly remove right-leaning information, sometimes working with the government, celebrated their triumph.
Democrats claim that the platforms have not done a good enough job of monitoring false information and hate speech, which has resulted in violent events.
Judge Doughty granted a preliminary injunction, stating that the agencies may not require reports regarding their efforts to remove content from social media networks or flag individual posts to those platforms.
The court’s decision stated that the government may still alert platforms to posts describing crimes, dangers to the security of the country, or foreign attempts to sway elections.
Courts are being compelled to weigh in on these concerns more frequently, which may overturn decades of legal precedent that have controlled internet expression.
Additionally, Republican state attorneys general in Texas and Florida are defending groundbreaking state laws that prevent internet service providers from removing specific political information, and legal experts think those cases may eventually make it to the Supreme Court.
This year, the high court declined to restrict a provision that exempts platforms from being held responsible for user-posted information.
[READ MORE: Former GOP New Hampshire Governor Slams Biden for Allegedly Trying to ‘Buy’ Votes With Student Loan Scheme]
