A Conservative Judge Complicates Biden’s Social Media Policy
A new hole emerges in Washington’s social media efforts
Government efforts to interact with social media platforms took a major hit on Tuesday when a federal judge restricted the Biden administration from communicating with tech companies about a broad array of online content.
The 155-page ruling, which the administration is likely to appeal, raises questions about how the government is supposed to interact with platforms that reach billions of people. It also complicates the outlook for regulating tech companies over the content their users post.
The ruling: Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana said that broad parts of the government, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the F.B.I., couldn’t talk with social media companies in any way that would lead to the “removal, deletion, suppression or reduction” of content.
“If the allegations made by plaintiffs are true, the present case arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history,” said Mr. Doughty, who was appointed by President Donald Trump.
Source: The New York Times
