MO and LA File Suit Against Biden Administration Over Collusion With Tech Giants to Suppress Free Speech – Opinion

On Thursday, the states of Missouri and Louisiana filed suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against numerous Biden Administration officials and agencies alleging that they colluded with social media companies to suppress and censor free speech on several topics, including Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” and the Wuhan lab leak theory surrounding the origins of COVID-19.

These are the Defendants named in this suit:

• Joe Biden, President
• Jen Psaki is Whitehouse Press Secretary
• Vivek Murthy, General Surgeon
• The Department of Health and Human Services
• DHHS Secretary Xavier Becerra
• The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci
• The Centers for Disease Control
• Department of Homeland Security
• DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
• The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
• Jen Easterly is the Director of CISA
• and last, but not least, Nina Jankowicz, as Director of “the so-called ‘Disinformation Governance Board’ within the Department of Homeland Security”

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who’s been no stranger to taking on the Biden Administration, announced the suit in a Twitter thread:

Today’s lawsuit alleges that the Biden administration conspired with social media giants Meta and Twitter to suppress free speech and censor it on topics such as the Hunter Biden laptop case, the Lab Leak Theory and many others. https://t.co/aTcdFU41iX

— Attorney General Eric Schmitt (@AGEricSchmitt) May 5, 2022

Per Schmitt, the Complaint alleges that Biden as a candidate and later, through his administration, “colluded with and pressured social media giants Meta, Twitter, and Youtube to suppress and censor free speech.”  Examples set forth in the suit include Twitter’s censoring of the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop and blocking of other Twitter users from sharing links to the story in October 2020 and Facebook’s (and other platforms’) aggressive censoring of speech concerning the Lab Leak Theory, beginning in February 2020.

A long tweet thread, Schmitt also details the chronology of interactions between the Biden campaign (and then administration) and social media companies involving “disinformation” and “misinformation.”

Four counts are included in the 86-page complaint: 1) Violation of The First Amendment (against All Defendants); 2) Act in Excess of Statutory Authority [against All Defendants); and 3) Violation of Administrative Procedure Act (“against HHS Defendants); and 4) Violation of Administrative Procedure Act (“against DHS Defendants).

Schmitt’s office issued a press release regarding the suit. The following is the press release

“Big Tech has become an extension of Biden’s Big Government, and neither are protecting the freedoms of Americans; rather, they are suppressing truth and demonizing those who think differently,” said Attorney General Landry. “Ripped from the playbook of Stalin and his ilk, Biden has been colluding with Big Tech to censor free speech and propagandize the masses. We are fighting back to ensure the rule of law and prevent the government from unconstitutional banning, chilling, and stifling of speech.”

….

The lawsuit alleges that the federal government violated Missourians’, Louisianans’ and Americans’ First Amendment rights in colluding with social media companies to censor and suppress freedom of speech: “As alleged further herein, Defendants have coerced, threatened, and pressured social-media platforms to censor disfavored speakers and viewpoints by using threats of adverse government action. As alleged further herein, as a result of such threats, Defendants are now directly colluding with social-media platforms to censor disfavored speakers and viewpoints, including by pressuring them to censor certain content and speakers, and ‘flagging’ disfavored content and speakers for censorship. These actions violate the First Amendment.”

Louisiana is a member of the Fifth Circuit. This circuit generally favors conservative viewpoints. Louisiana’s federal judge recently blocked the Biden Administration’s removal of Title 42 immigrant restrictions.

It’s premature to assess the viability of this latest challenge but it’s certainly another shot across the bow of the Biden Administration. Oh, and, Nina? You are welcome to join the fray