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The US supreme court has struck down a lower court ruling in the case of Murthy v Missouri, finding that the government’s communications with social media platforms about Covid-19 misinformation did not violate the first amendment. The court’s decision permits the government to call on tech companies to remove falsehoods and establishes boundaries around free speech online.
Conservative bloc
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Alito – Minority
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Barrett – Majority
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Gorsuch – Minority
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Kavanaugh – Majority
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Roberts – Majority
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Thomas – Minority
Liberal bloc
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Jackson – Majority
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Kagan – Majority
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Sotomayor – Majority
The court ruled 6-3 that the plaintiffs had no standing to bring the case against the Biden administration, with conservative justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch dissenting.
The ruling is a blow to a longstanding Republican-backed effort to equate content moderation with censorship. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which included the founder of a far-right conspiracy website, argued that the government and federal agencies were coercing tech companies into silencing conservatives through demands to take down misinformation about the pandemic.
An initial lower court ruling from a Republican-favorite judge in Louisiana accused federal agencies of taking on the role of “an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth’”.
During oral arguments, the government contended that calling on social media platforms to take stronger measures against misinformation did not amount to threats and never implied legal consequences. Public health experts and state officials had warned that blocking the government from flagging medical misinformation or election falsehoods could cause serious societal harm.
More details soon …