Former President Obama’s attorney general on Wednesday condemned a federal judge’s recent order limiting the Biden administration from communicating with social media companies as part of alleged government efforts to suppress First Amendment-protected free speech.
"Well this is pretty stupid. And potentially dangerous," Eric Holder, who served as U.S. Attorney General from 2009-2015, tweeted Wednesday.
Holder shared a New York Times article about the decision. The opening paragraph of the Times piece claims that the ruling "could curtail efforts to combat false and misleading narratives about the coronavirus pandemic and other issues." However, those alleged government efforts to crack down on free speech are precisely what the preliminary injunction takes issue with.
The order, signed in Louisiana by U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty – who was appointed by former President Trump – restricts certain Biden administration officials from meeting, emailing, calling, sending letters, texting or engaging in any communication of any kind with social media companies for the purpose of "urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech posted on social-media platforms."
The preliminary injunction, however, does not restrict Biden administration officials from communicating with social media companies on postings involving criminal activity, national security threats, or criminal efforts to suppress voting, provide illegal campaign contributions, cyber-attacks against election infrastructure, or foreign attempts to influence elections.
NY TIMES ROASTED FOR COMPLAINING BIDEN CAN'T FIGHT 'DISINFORMATION' AFTER JUDGE'S RULING
It names the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, Justice Department, the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the State Department.
Tuesday's decision also specifically names certain employees, many of whom are in digital engagement or communications roles.
Among high-ranking officials or department heads whose communication with social media companies is restricted are HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, NIAID Director Dr. Hugh Auchincloss, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The injunction, which is not the final ruling in the case, comes in the lawsuit filed by U.S. Senator and former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, both Republicans, who claim the Biden administration moved into a phase of "open collusion with social-media companies to suppress disfavored speakers, viewpoints, and content on social-media platforms under the Orwellian guise of halting so-called ‘disinformation,’ ‘misinformation,’ and ‘malinformation’."
