On Friday the Fifth Circuit partly affirmed a lower court’s judgement that Biden administration officials violated the First Amendment by coercing social media companies to censor speech. The lower court’s judgement that the White House, Surgeon General, CDC and FBI violated the First Amendment was affirmed by the Fifth Circuit, however, it ruled that “the district court erred in finding that the NIAID Officials, CISA Officials, and State Department Officials likely violated Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights.” Furthermore, it found the injunction issued by District of Louisiana Judge Terry A. Doughty in the free speech lawsuit Missouri v. Biden was “vague and broader than necessary.” The court kept one of ten provisions of the injunction which bars officials from “threatening, pressuring, or coercing” companies to remove speech. Missouri AG Andrew Bailey tweeted, “Missouri will continue to lead the way in the fight to defend our most fundamental freedoms.”
