Supreme Court sides with Biden administration over conservative states in dispute over social media posts

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that it sides with the Biden administration in a debate over whether it was a violation of the First Amendment for the federal government to police what they consider to be misinformation on social media, on topics including the 2020 election results and COVID-19 vaccines.

The 6-3 vote reversed the Fifth Circuit court's decision, which favored Louisiana, Missouri and other states that claimed it was a violation, and said that government officials were responsible for social media platforms' content-moderation decisions. Instead, the court found there was no evidence that the Biden administration used intimidation or coercion tactics to remove the content from platforms, therefore it was not a violation of the First Amendment.

This ruling now sets the precedent for tech companies to serve the public interest.

This case was the fifth argument regarding free speech and technology that the Supreme Court has heard since October.

Read the Supreme Court ruling here:

⬅️ How we got here

Two Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, along with several other social media users, alleged that federal officials “coordinated and colluded” with social media platforms to censor speakers, viewpoints and content that they disagreed with.

Lousiana-based federal judge Terry Doughty and Louisana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals both agreed that Biden officials violated the First Amendment.

In October 2023, the Supreme Court blocked the Louisana Fifth Circuit Court's ruling with Conservative Justices Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch disagreeing with the majority's decision to block the ruling, claiming that the situation was an example of the government censoring private speech.

However, in the majority, multiple justices from both liberal and conservative sides questioned how the plaintiffs could prove taking down the posts harmed or silenced anyone. They also raised concerns there was no proof that officials threatened social media companies if they didn’t cooperate.

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