WASHINGTON, DC – The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Missouri v. Biden, a landmark free speech case that challenges the Biden administration’s interactions with social media companies over online content regulation. The Court also issued a pause on a preliminary injunction granted by a lower court.
The case was brought forward by Republican attorneys general from Missouri and Louisiana, who claim the Biden administration’s coordination with social media platforms violates the First Amendment. District of Louisiana Judge Terry A. Doughty issued an injunction in July that prevented certain aspects of the administration’s collaboration with these platforms. The Supreme Court’s order indicates it has paused this injunction but will review the case.
Justice Samuel Alito, dissenting from the decision to stay the injunction, expressed concern over the potential implications for free speech. He noted that the suspension of the lower court’s injunction could last until late spring of next year and termed the decision “highly disturbing.”
The lower court had found that government officials likely violated the First Amendment by suppressing protected speech. The injunction prohibited government actors from working in any collaborative manner with research groups and projects advocating for censorship.
The Biden administration had sought to freeze the injunction after it was partially affirmed by an appeals court in September. The move to take the case to the Supreme Court could result in a more expansive ruling concerning its interactions with social media companies.