National: Supreme Court Takes on Social Media Censorship

A majority of US Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical yesterday of arguments the Biden administration coerced social media companies to remove content from their platforms. Last fall, the high court put on hold a lower court ruling to bar federal officials from communicating with tech platforms about the content they host. Supreme Court decisions are released in June.

The original suit was launched in May 2022 by the attorneys general from Louisiana and Missouri and five social media users. They alleged federal officials infringed on their First Amendment speech rights when they coerced tech platforms in 2021 to remove certain posts involving information about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several justices questioned how the government’s communications could be directly linked to the platform’s removal of posts and whether the plaintiffs had standing (see 101) in the case. The court has heard several cases involving social media this term, including whether accounts of public officials can block individuals and whether states can bar platforms from moderating political content.