By appealing to a higher court Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden is fighting a judge’s sweeping ban on federal bureaus pressuring social medial platforms to censor their users.
The Biden Administration on Wednesday informed Louisiana U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty that it is petitioning the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in the hopes of overturning Doughty’s Tuesday preliminary injunction blocking federal agencies from colluding with and coercing social media outlets to suppress protected speech.
Wyoming’s lone congressional representative believes the appeals court will uphold Doughty’s order.
“The district court’s decision was well-reasoned and spot on,” U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, a Republican, told Cowboy State Daily about Doughty’s order and a memorandum in support of it. “We should expect the Fifth District to uphold the preliminary injunction.”
Allegations Have Merit, Hageman Says
Doughty intended his order to stay in effect until the case is resolved, or until further orders come from his own court, the Fifth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Cour,t on the matter.
Doughty’s 155-page accompanying memorandum, also filed on Independence Day, listed wide-ranging allegations of federal collusion and possible coercion toward social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Numerous federal bureaus allegedly pressured social media outlets to suppress, flag or remove anti-COVID-19 lockdown and vaccination narratives and posts questioning the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.
Hageman took the breadth of Doughty’s order as a sign that the allegations have merit.
“We now know that the Biden Admin has been using social media companies to do their dirty work of censoring Americans, in violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution,” said Hageman in a Thursday email to Cowboy State Daily. “Fortunately, the federal district court saw through the administration’s excuses and has made clear that the federal government cannot do via proxy what it cannot do directly.
“This decision issued on Independence Day will ensure that Americans will be able to freely communicate without fear of government censorship.”
Hageman pursued social media reform even before declaring her candidacy to run for her House seat in 2022. She lobbied the Wyoming Legislature in 2021 — during the bulk of the events alleged in Missouri vs. Biden — to request laws letting Wyomingites sue social media platforms for discriminating against users based upon their viewpoint.
That bill failed, but Hageman as a national delegate has since turned her attention to federal internet reform. She told Newsmax that House Republicans will draft a law holding accountable government agents who violate the First Amendment.
