Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration is appealing the order of a federal judge that blocks government officials from censoring the free speech of Americans online.
As Slay News reported, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, a President Donald Trump appointee, issued a July 4th order that prohibits Biden admin officials from meeting with social media companies.
On Wednesday, lawyers with the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a notice of appeal in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
Doughty granted the injunction in a lawsuit brought in 2022 by the GOP attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri over alleged collusion between the federal government and social media companies.
The judge determined that Biden officials were using Big Tech companies to censor “disfavored” speech in violation of the First Amendment.
In his order, Doughty blasted the “Orwellian” efforts of the Biden admin to bypass the Constitution to violate the free speech rights of the American people.
Although there has not been a final ruling in the case, the judge’s order restricts several officials and agencies from meeting or communicating with social media companies for the purpose of “urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing” in any manner the “removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.”
The injunction affects specific White House officials, including Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
It also specifically targets agencies and certain officials within them, ranging from the DOJ and FBI, and the departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services.
The order also lists some exceptions related to flagging criminal behavior, national security concerns, and election tampering.
As noted in an accompanying memorandum, the defendants in the case have argued they did not seek to coerce social media companies to clamp down on free speech.
The Biden admin claims that efforts to flag posts for censorship were meant to fight “disinformation” or “misinformation” on certain issues.
Most of the content that the Biden admin wanted to be shut down was related to Covid, election matters, and the Hunter Biden laptop story.
However, Biden officials insist that the censorship was left up to the social media platforms to regulate on their own terms.
The judge appears to disagree, however.
Judge Doughty wrote: “During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period perhaps best characterized by widespread doubt and uncertainty, the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth.’”
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey called the judge’s order “a huge win for the right to freely speak without government censorship.”
“We must build a wall of separation between tech and state to preserve our First Amendment right to free, fair, and open debate,” Bailey added.
“Missouri will continue to lead the way in the fight to defend our most fundamental freedoms.”