The Biden administration has requested a court to temporarily halt a preliminary injunction that prevents it from engaging with tech companies regarding social media censorship. In a court memo filed on Thursday, the administration highlighted the potential “irreparable harm” it may face due to the injunction’s obstruction of collaborative efforts with social media platforms to protect the American people and democratic processes. The memo stated that the immediate and ongoing harms to the government outweigh any risks to the plaintiffs and that granting a stay is in the public interest. On Independence Day, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty issued the injunction, forbidding multiple government agencies and officials from communicating or meeting with social media companies in order to influence the removal or reduction of content containing protected free speech. This court order temporarily prevents the administration from taking such actions until further arguments are presented in the lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys general from Missouri and Louisiana. The Justice Department has filed a notice of appeal and intends to seek a stay of the court’s order as well. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre expressed disagreement with the decision but declined to provide further comments. The outcome of the injunction remains uncertain and could potentially impact efforts to combat domestic extremism, which the intelligence community considers a significant threat. The lawsuit filed by the attorneys general accuses government officials of utilizing regulatory action as leverage to coerce social media platforms into suppressing content deemed as misinformation on various topics, including COVID-19 vaccines, Hunter Biden, and election integrity. Conservative groups have praised the injunction and Doughty’s reference to the administration assuming a role similar to an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth” as a victory for free speech and a setback for censorship. While social media companies regularly remove posts that violate their own standards, they are seldom compelled to do so by the U.S. government. The administration has argued in previous court filings that the lawsuit aims to restrict the free speech rights of its officials. Doughty has previously ruled against the administration in significant cases involving oil drilling and vaccination mandates. In 2021, he imposed a nationwide block on a Biden administration requirement mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for healthcare workers, which was later narrowed down by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to cover 14 states that were plaintiffs in the lawsuit. This report was contributed to by Bradford Betz, a Fox News Digital breaking reporter specializing in crime, political issues, and more.
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