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Supreme Court sides with Biden admin over agencies' contact with social media firms

The decision now lifts potential legal burdens on federal agencies’ communications with social media companies about disinformation on their platforms.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with the Biden administration in a clash over whether federal agencies can freely speak with social media firms about the removal of disinformation, as well as controversial topics like election results and vaccines on their platforms. Justices in a 6-3 vote jettisoned lower court rulings that favored the view, arguing that states lacked the legal authority to lodge the lawsuit at the federal level. For around six months, agencies chilled their communications with social media firms about election security, public health and other disinformation flash points, concerned over the legal challenges they could face under accusations that the Biden administration was running a coercive censorship enterprise meant to dispel free speech.

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