The restraining order, issued by Louisiana federal district judge Terry Doughty, came as part of a 2022 lawsuit filed by the attorney generals of Louisiana and Missouri.
The filing alleged that the US federal government had exceeded its authority to pressure social media to take action against posts that occurred during the coronavirus pandemic. May lead to vaccine aversion.
In the document, those behind the initiative named Google, the parent company of Facebook, Meta, and Twitter. According to the judge, there is ample evidence of a “widespread censorship campaign”.
Based on his wording, the evidence shows an almost “miserable scenario” realization. It can be read that during the Covid-19 pandemic – itself marked by widespread uncertainty – it is clear that the US government “played a role similar to the Orwellian Department of Justice”, in Tuesday’s injunction.
The judge’s order prohibits the Federal Department of Health, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the White House press secretary, among others, from engaging in dialogue with social media companies about any topic that might “encourage, pressure, or incite” the removal, deletion, or restriction of access to a Posts, and narrow the range of content protected by freedom of expression.
In response to the judge’s order, an official from the Ministry of Justice said the government was considering its options in the wake of the decision, but insisted it supported responsible measures to protect and protect public health and safety.
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