A federal judge on Tuesday issued an injunction that the Biden administration may have violated the First Amendment when it worked with social media companies to censor dissent.

Judge Terry A. Doughty of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana called censorship “Orwellian,” and the Republican Attorneys General of Louisiana and Missouri called it “a massive effort by defendants from the White House to the federal government.” I submitted evidence of.” Government agencies suppress speech based on its content,” reported The Washington Post. report.

BREAKING NEWS: A judge has restricted Biden administration officials’ access to social media sites, but the ruling could curtail efforts to combat disinformation.https://t.co/y9jmV0BU7d

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 4, 2023

Doughty told members of the Biden administration, including officials from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to “in any way communicate with social media companies for the purpose of urging, encouraging, coercing, or inducing their takedowns.” ” was prohibited.Removing, Suppressing, or Diminishing Content Including Protected Free Speech,” The New York Times report. (Related: ‘State-led ideological crackdown’: Matt Taibi tells Congress about massive online censorship networks)

The interim injunction does not allow government officials to communicate with social media agencies for the purpose of censoring dissenting opinions, but government agencies inform platforms about crimes, foreign propaganda, and threats to national security. The paper noted that it was still allowed to do so.

The lawsuit alleges that Biden administration officials “went too far” in trying to stifle debate on topics such as vaccines and election fairness, The Washington Post reported. The lawsuit called censorship “the most egregious violation of the First Amendment in the history of the United States,” according to the paper.

While Doughty has not issued a final judgment in the case, the injunction halts years of coordination between the government and social media companies that Biden administration officials say are necessary for national security. may be