MONROE, Louisiana (LifeSiteNews) — A federal judge ordered President Joe Biden’s administration not to work with or pressure social media companies to censor speech, with limited exceptions, as a lawsuit proceeds.
Judge Terry A. Doughty ruled on Tuesday in favor of entities, including Louisiana and Missouri, that have sued Biden’s team for colluding with social media companies to censor speech that raises questions about the integrity of the 2020 elections, reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop, and questions regarding the establishment narrative on COVID-19, including on vaccines.
“If the allegations made by Plaintiffs are true, the present case arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States history,” Judge Doughty wrote. “In their attempts to suppress alleged disinformation, the Federal Government, and particularly the Defendants named here, are alleged to have blatantly ignored the First Amendment’s right to free speech.”
The judge issued a preliminary injunction against the listed defendants, which include Biden himself, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and a slew of high-ranking officials, including cabinet secretaries.
Judge Doughty concluded:
The Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits in establishing that the Government has used its power to silence the opposition. Opposition to COVID-19 vaccines; opposition to COVID-19 masking and lockdowns; opposition to the lab-leak theory of COVID-19; opposition to the validity of the 2020 election; opposition to President Biden’s policies; statements that the Hunter Biden laptop story was true; and opposition to policies of the government officials in power. All were suppressed. It is quite telling that each example or category of suppressed speech was conservative in nature. This targeted suppression of conservative ideas is a perfect example of viewpoint discrimination of political speech.
“American citizens have the right to engage in free debate about the significant issues affecting the country,” he wrote. “Although this case is still relatively young, and at this stage the Court is only examining it in terms of Plaintiffs’ likelihood of success on the merits, the evidence produced thus far depicts an almost dystopian scenario.”
“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,'” Doughty wrote.
The plaintiffs include a handful of medical experts known for offering contrary opinions on COVID lockdowns, masks, and vaccines, such as Drs. Jay Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorff, and Aaron Kheriaty.
Another plaintiff is Jim Hoft, who runs the popular conservative Gateway Pundit website.
Children’s Health Defense (CHD) is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit. CHD founder and current Democratic presidential primary candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., celebrated the ruling.
“Federal judge orders President Biden to stop censoring his critics including me. The decision mentions me on page 17. Happy Independence Day Everyone!” he tweeted.
“Our consistent view remains that social media platforms have a critical responsibility to take account of the effects their platforms are having on the American people, but make independent choices about the information they present,” an unnamed Biden official told the New York Times.
Obtained emails show Instagram removed Fauci parody account at federal gov’t behest
The lawsuit is part of an ongoing battle to expose and prevent federal officials from using their authority to suppress conservative speech. The lawsuit has already provided evidence that the relationship between government officials and social media companies is close.
As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, the first batch of emails released as part of the lawsuit found that Biden officials and Big Tech met regularly to discuss what to censor. One email from a Facebook employee to two Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staffers asked about setting up a monthly “misinfo/debunking” meeting “in addition to our weekly meetings.” Facebook officials deleted a parody Fauci account on Instagram after a White House official named Clarke Humphrey complained.
Judge Doughty also previously ruled in favor of the plaintiffs to obtain further emails from a host of government agencies that allegedly worked with Big Tech. “These allegedly include the State Department, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), the Census Bureau, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the U.S. Treasury Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations,” Doughty ruled.