In what could be one of the most important decisions of this century, a federal judge has ordered the Biden administration to end government directed and encouraged censorship on social media. The social media companies specified in the suit include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, TikTok, and WeChat, among other platforms.
Below are some quotes from the decision that reflect its importance and likely impact.
From Aaron Siri:
“If the Department of Justice, which represents the Biden administration, decides to appeal this decision, I suspect the appeal will not receive a friendly reception.
This is a huge blow for freedom and, no doubt, issued by the Court on Independence Day on purpose. Thank you, Judge Terry A. Doughty, for having the courage to breathe significant renewed life back into the promise of free speech, and hearty congratulations to the Attorneys General of Missouri and Louisiana who led the charge in this case!
"If the allegations made by Plaintiffs are true, the present case arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history."
"The principal function of free speech under the United States’ system of government is to invite dispute; it may indeed best serve its high purpose when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger."
"Freedom of speech and press is the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom."
"'For if men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments ... reason is of no use to us; the freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the slaughter.' George Washington"
"'Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the free acts of speech.' Benjamin Franklin"
"'I may disapprove of what you say, but I would defend to the death your right to say it.' Evelyn Beatrice Hill"
"The White House Defendants made it very clear to social-media companies what they wanted suppressed and what they wanted amplified. Faced with unrelenting pressure from the most powerful office in the world, the social-media companies apparently complied."
"Like the White House Defendants and Surgeon General Defendants, the Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of Plaintiffs’ First Amendment free speech claim against the CDC Defendants. ... The CDC became the 'determiner of truth' for social-media platforms, deciding whether COVID-19 statements made on social media were true or false. ... If the CDC said a statement on social media was false, it was suppressed, in spite of alternative views."
"Plaintiffs have shown that not only have the Defendants shown willingness to coerce and/or to give significant encouragement to social-media platforms to suppress free speech with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic and national elections, they have also shown a willingness to do it with regard to other issues, such as gas prices, parody speech, calling the President untruthful, climate change, gender, and abortion."
"'Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one place to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.' Harry S. Truman"
"The Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits in establishing that the Government has used its power to silence the opposition. Opposition to COVID-19 vaccines; opposition to COVID-19 masking and lockdowns; opposition to the lab-leak theory of COVID-19; opposition to the validity of the 2020 election; opposition to President Biden’s policies; statements that the Hunter Biden laptop story was true; and opposition to policies of the government officials in power. All were suppressed. It is quite telling that each example or category of suppressed speech was conservative in nature. This targeted suppression of conservative ideas is a perfect example of viewpoint discrimination of political speech. American citizens have the right to engage in free debate about the significant issues affecting the country."
The Biden Administration is "HEREBY ENJOINED AND RESTRAINED from taking the following actions as to social-media companies: (1) meeting with social-media companies for the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech posted on social-media platforms; (2) specifically flagging content or posts on social-media platforms and/or forwarding such to social-media companies urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner for removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech; (3) urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner social-media companies to change their guidelines for removing, deleting, suppressing, or reducing content containing protected free speech ..."
The only thing Orwell got wrong was the year.
At Fulcrum7, we affirm this decision as a necessary restraint against the ugly spirit of coercion that has infiltrated leftist polilibs and left-leaning organizations. We ourselves have also been the target of shadow-banning and outright coercion by Facebook. We don’t mind. We expect that from hard left ideologues.
We are under no illusions that this favored land will remain free and favored, but we welcome temporary respites as an opportunity to continue sharing the Three Angel’s Messages with earth’s people. Let us all be faithful to this calling.
The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Isaiah 24:5.
The people of the United States have been a favored people; but when they restrict religious liberty, surrender Protestantism, and give countenance to popery, the measure of their guilt will be full, and “national apostasy” will be registered in the books of heaven. The result of this apostasy will be national ruin. The Review and Herald, May 2, 1893.
FULL DECISION:
FULL ORDER:
