In a win for free speech advocates and defeat for Democrats, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against the Biden administration in a First Amendment case involving the efforts of the Biden administration’s agencies to censor politically opposing voices on social media.
The federal court in Louisiana upheld the July 4 ruling of Judge Terry A. Doughty of the U.S. District Court Western District of Louisiana Monroe Division, whereby he ordered to block contact between Biden administration officials and social media companies because the two were colluding to censor free speech. Attorney General of MO, Andrew Bailey, had cheered at the ruling as an Independence Day victory.
🚨BREAKING: The Court has granted our motion to BLOCK top officials in the federal government from violating the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans.
What a way to celebrate Independence Day.
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) July 4, 2023
In the latest ruling, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals specifically stated that the White House coerced social media companies through intimidating messages and threats into moderating the content posted on their online platforms. Jenin Younes, an attorney at the New Civil Liberties Alliance, hailed the decision as a victory for free speech in America. He was cited in the Washington Examiner saying:
“In an unprecedented, historic decision, the Fifth Circuit has recognized that the conduct of the White House, CDC, Surgeon General, and FBI violated Americans’ First Amendment rights.”
Prominent conservatives hailed the Fifth Circuit Court ruling as a victory and called on their representatives in the government for action to protect America’s free speech rights against the Biden administration’s attacks, for which they bashed Biden’s White House. Collin Rugg called the Biden administration “Criminals” for their coercion of tech giants into censorship.
NEW: The 5th Circuit Court has ruled that the Biden administration, the FBI & the CDC all violated the First Amendment by colluding with Big Tech to censor Americans
Where are our so-called Republican leaders? They’re awfully quiet.
It gets worse: The court found that the Biden… pic.twitter.com/8s4e7Oy3OH
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 10, 2023
Josh Hawley, Republican Senator from MO, tweeted a video of a recent Senate hearing about book bans in schools and libraries with the statement that the Biden White House has stifled, suppressed, and censored any speech they didn’t like – which the court has now ruled unconstitutional.
Talk about modern-day book burning: for years, the Biden White House has used every social media platform in America to stifle, suppress & censor any speech they don’t like. Courts have ruled: totally unconstitutional pic.twitter.com/s9gWaEzXnu
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) September 12, 2023
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton shared a video of his short speech about the fight against censorship of free speech as he stood by members of the House Freedom Caucus outside the federal capitol in D.C. He called on the Republican-controlled House to stop funding the corrupt federal government.
Congress can and should stop funding gov't corruption–especially the Biden DOJ's prosecutorial abuse of @RealDonaldTrump. Honored to join the members of @FreedomCaucus today to highlight how the House must NOW make a stand for the rule of law! No more excuses! pic.twitter.com/IzptNWvvIn
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) September 13, 2023
The Biden administration, held responsible for illegal censorship of free speech, is likely to appeal the court’s ruling and fight this legal battle in the Supreme Court.
Conservatives were frequently censored on Twitter until Elon Musk bought it last year and ended political censorship on the platform. Left-leaning social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube continue to censor politically incorrect posts and comments. Over the past weekend, Instagram restricted the account of Chloe Cole, a young woman who was encouraged into changing her gender at a young age of 12 but after many damaging medical procedures, she quit the “transitioning” and became a voice against transgender transitioning. Instagram, which is a sister company of Facebook, restricted her account because the platform thinks her bio on her profile is “too violent.”
“If you think reading it is violent, imagine actually living through all that,” responded Cole, adding, “It has ruined my life and I will never be the same.”