The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit that accused the Biden administration of improperly conspiring with major tech companies to censor social media posts it deemed “misinformation” about the COVID-19 pandemic and other topics.
In a 6-3 decision, the high court ruled that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue.
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch dissented.
“To be a party to a lawsuit, a plaintiff must demonstrate that there is a substantial near-term risk to it of harm caused by a government defendant and that the injunctive relief it seeks would be sufficient,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the majority opinion. “No plaintiff has met that burden.”
During oral arguments in March, the Supreme Court expressed caution about siding with the Republican attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana who brought the case, and several conservative justices questioned the precedent the case would set.
Thursday’s ruling overturned a previous ruling by the Supreme Court that barred White House officials from communicating with companies like Google, Facebook and X about content moderation during the litigation.
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AP
In a blistering dissent, Justice Alito warned that the officials’ actions in the case were “plainly unconstitutional, and the nation may regret that the Supreme Court did not say so.”
“Entirely private organizations like newspapers are not subject to the First Amendment… but government authorities cannot compel private organizations to suppress speech,” he wrote. “The record before us is staggering.”
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
