Breaking News: Court Prohibits Biden Admin, CDC, And FBI From Coercing Online Platforms To Censor Content

Full highlights below.

Hi everyone,

The Fifth Circuit Court’s ruling in the Missouri v. Biden case just released last night and I went ahead and read every page (what else to do on a Friday night? - Going on a fun JRE podcast binge now though!).

The court’s decision is technically mixed — as they vacated most injunctions and reversed the censorship prohibition on some groups (CISA, NIAD, and Department of State) — but the outcome is ultimately good: the court upheld the key injunction in the case which prohibits the Biden administration, CDC, FBI, and Surgeon General from "coerc[ing] or significantly encourag[ing] a platform’s content-moderation decisions."

So you don’t have to read all 74 pages, I highlighted the most critical passages below. Stay tuned for more coverage, including a piece I wrote in Matt Taibbi’s Racket News!

Highlights:

The White House did indeed coerce social media companies to moderate content:

We find that the White House, acting in concert with the Surgeon General’s office, likely (1) coerced the platforms to make their moderation decisions by way of intimidating messages and threats of adverse consequences, and (2) significantly encouraged the platforms’ decisions by commandeering their decision-making processes, both in violation of the First Amendment.