The US Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on whether the Biden administration overstepped its bounds by pressuring social media platforms to remove content about COVID-19 vaccines it deemed misleading during the pandemic.
The case—Murthy v. Missouri—questions whether such pressure violates core First Amendment freedoms.
Missouri and Louisiana attorneys general sued the government in 2022, claiming it pressures social media platforms to censor conservative views.
They alleged that government officials were trying to restrict views on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter about COVID-19 origins, pandemic health policies, the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, election security, and more.
The scrutiny followed a 2021 White House request to remove a tweet linking Hank Aaron’s death to the COVID-19 vaccine posted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. His Instagram and Facebook accounts were also suspended as a result.
Lower courts criticized the administration’s actions, equating them to Orwellian censorship.