Loading ...Federal Pressure On Big Tech To Censor COVID-19 ‘Misinformation’ Violates Constitution: Lawsuit
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has repeatedly pressed Twitter and other platforms to suppress COVID-19 misinformation, while White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said President Joe Biden thinks it’s the responsibility of social media companies to “stop amplifying untrustworthy content, disinformation, and misinformation, especially related to COVID-19, vaccinations, and elections.”
Those and similar statements made clear the government was demanding action and was contemplating penalties against platforms that did not ramp up censorship, the 65-page suit asserts.
Murthy, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and other Biden administration officials “are not simply colluding with, but instrumentalizing Twitter and other technology companies to effectuate their goal of silencing opinions that diverge from the White House’s messaging on COVID-19,” it says, adding, “That commandeering transforms the Surgeon General’s initiative into government action.”