A federal judge has ordered the Biden Administration, including members of executive agencies, to cease all contact with social media companies, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The injunction came following a lawsuit by Missouri and Louisiana, alleging that the federal government was colluding with social media giants to effectively censor Americans. The order prohibits certain high ranking members, and entire agencies, of the Biden Administration from contacting social media companies.
Ties between the government and private sector can sometimes work for the common good, but can easily be corrupted as was the case here. As was the case here, the government used private companies to go around its own legal limitations.
In addition, the government was taking sides in a debate that it had no compelling interest to get involved in, except for nakedly political ones. Federal agents would ask Twitter and other companies to censor, and many of the times would be eyeing private sector positions at those very same firms following their retirement.
“The evidence produced thus far depicts an almost dystopian scenario,” wrote Doughty, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, in his ruling. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period perhaps best characterized by widespread doubt and uncertainty, the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth.’”
The ban does not cover criminal and national security operations, where agents can still subpoena records from them or ask for an account to be shut down if it engages in actual criminal behavior. The Administrative Branch and its agencies are also allowed to post their own content.
