Supreme Court tackles government coercion claims in social media and NRA cases
NBCMar 22
SCOTUS Supports White House Regarding Social Media Company Engagement
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The Facts
The US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) on Wednesday threw out a conservative challenge to the Biden administration's efforts to work with social media companies to combat posts considered to be misinformation.
The case — Murthy v. Missouri — was launched by officials from Louisiana and Missouri and five social media users who claim that the Biden admin.'s efforts to suppress content on social media, including its direct contact with tech industry officials, violated their First Amendment rights.
The Spin
Republican narrative
This decision is a complete erosion of free speech rights, as it allows the Biden administration to suppress whatever it deems "misinformation." The White House has already openly and proudly coordinated with big-tech companies to scrub platforms of dissenting opinions on a wide range of issues, which multiple courts ruled unconstitutional. Biden will now be further emboldened to silence his critics ahead of November's election.
Democratic narrative
This decision will keep the internet safer and prevent dangerous lies from circulating the web unchecked in the face of the Republican-led effort to spread misinformation. That it came from the conservative-majority SCOTUS legitimizes the Biden administration's past work with social media companies and empowers it to resume working with the platforms — many of whom have voluntarily tightened their regulations around misinformation.
