A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that former White House Press Secretary Jen “Circle Back” Psaki pushed for social media companies to help censor information related to the coronavirus that was put out by conservative leaning voices and outlets beginning in May 2021. Which is exactly what most of us already knew, but it’s oh so nice to hear it coming out of the mouth of someone on a federal bench. It’s vindication of the highest order. Now, the question is whether or not there will be a consequence for Psaki’s actions or not.
“U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana granted an injunction barring President Joe Biden’s administration from contacting tech companies to request the censorship of some users. The ruling came in response to a 2022 lawsuit brought by attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri. Their lawsuit alleged the federal government overstepped in its efforts to convince social media companies to address postings that could result in vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic or affect elections,” Newsmax stated in a recent report.
“If the allegations made by plaintiffs are true, the present case arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history,” the injunction went on to say. “In their attempts to suppress alleged disinformation, the federal government, and particularly the defendants named here, are alleged to have blatantly ignored the First Amendment’s right to free speech.”
Judge Doughty also cited “substantial evidence” that a very in-depth censorship campaign did, in fact, exist. Of course, we’ll never, ever get the left to fess up to it, but I’m sure that none of us have forgotten how merely mentioning anything to do with the pandemic that did not support the main narrative the White House wanted to push immediately got digital duct tape slapped across your mouth along with the label of being a conspiracy theorist.
Doughty said in his ruling, that the “evidence produced thus far depicts an almost dystopian scenario. 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 Department of Justice, headed up by Attorney General Merrick Garland, a man who has now built his career on finding new and creative ways to take federal law enforcement agencies and use them as weapons against President Joe Biden’s political opposition, will take a look at the injunction and “and will evaluate its options in this case,” an official who works for the White House, who is not authorized to chat about the case publicly and only gave this information on the condition of anonymity said.
“This administration has promoted responsible actions to protect public health, safety, and security when confronted by challenges like a deadly pandemic and foreign attacks on our elections,” the official added. “Our consistent view remains that social media platforms have a critical responsibility to take account of the effects their platforms are having on the American people but make independent choices about the information they present.”
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