(DailyVantage.com) – A federal appeals court ruled the Biden Administration’s attempt at implementing censorship on social media platforms is unconstitutional, meaning the Supreme Court will likely rule on the White House’s censorship policies to determine the constitutionality of Biden’s social media policies.
The Biden Administration attempted to control what types of posts and subject matter social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook would allow users to share, raising concerns that the White House was attempting to limit citizens’ First Amendment rights. Biden’s proposed censorship policy is unlikely to pass further scrutiny by the Supreme Court due to the court’s conservative slant stemming from Donald Trump’s appointment of three different Supreme Court Justices.
Social media is a focus for both conservative and liberal officials within Congress and played a pivotal role in the 2020 election. President Biden received favorable coverage from platforms like Twitter and Facebook, prompting accusations that social media platforms are biased towards Democratic officials. The infamous Hunter Biden laptop was also labeled as misinformation on both social media sites, despite evidence proving its validity now being public information.
According to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Biden Administration violated the First Amendment by demanding social media sites remove misleading or false posts regarding the ongoing pandemic. However, the White House didn’t just stop at misleading posts; many people raising questions and concerns about the various vaccinations had their accounts shadow-banned, meaning other users could not see their profiles or their posts. Biden denies involvement in the mass shadow-banning, but employees at Instagram and Facebook claim a political bias favoring the Democratic Party exists.
The appellate court’s ruling also limits the White House’s contact with social media firms, likely to prevent further involvement in the sites’ content moderation policies. The Supreme Court will most likely rule against the Biden administration and prevent future administrations from using political influence to control user content on social media sites. The ruling may also hinder Biden’s upcoming presidential election, as claims of censorship may persuade voters to oppose Biden’s campaign. Despite the federal court’s ruling, the White House remains adamant that it did not unfairly limit anyone’s freedom of speech.
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