Court Eases Biden Administration's Social Media Restrictions, Citing First Amendment Violations

A federal appeals court has eased restrictions on the Biden administration's contacts with social media companies, ordering the White House, FBI, and health officials not to coerce or significantly encourage the removal of content deemed as misinformation. The court narrowed an injunction that accused U.S. officials of illegally coercing Facebook and YouTube into censoring posts related to Covid and the 2020 election. While the court agreed that federal officials had violated free speech protections, it vacated much of the lower court's injunction, except for a provision concerning alleged coercion. The ruling was hailed by Republican state attorneys general, but the injunction has been put on hold for 10 days to allow the Biden administration to seek Supreme Court review.