BIG WIN IN THE COURTS: Missouri v. Biden

The big battle of Missouri versus Biden has taken its next step as the Fifth District Court largely sustained the ruling of the lower court, demanding that the government parties can no longer censor American citizens.

To be clear. This was the ruling on the stay but now it is enforceable.

“Under the modified injunction, the enjoined Defendants cannot coerce or significantly encourage a platform’s content-moderation decisions. Such conduct includes threats of adverse consequences—even if those threats are not verbalized and never materialize—so long as a reasonable person would construe a government’s message as alluding to some form of punishment.”

Jenin Younes, no stranger to this audience, and one of the original lawyers on this lawsuit notes:

“This is a major victory. Plaintiffs have prevailed in Missouri v. Biden. The Fifth Circuit narrowed slightly, but enjoined the White House, Surgeon General, CDC, & FBI from "coerc[ing] or significantly encourage a platform’s content-moderation decisions."“

In short, the court ruled that the following people CAN:

1) NO LONGER CENSOR YOU

2) NO LONGER FLAG YOUR POSTS

3) NO LONGER DICTATE SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES

4) NO LONGER COMMUNICATE WITH THESE COMPANIES TO CENSOR YOU

5) NO LONGER WORK WITH THE EIP, the virality project, Stanford Internet Observatory

6) NO LONGER THREATEN these companies

7) NO MORE BOLOs!

White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre; Counsel to the President, Stuart F. Delery; White House Partnerships Manager, Aisha Shah; Special Assistant to the President, Sarah Beran; Administrator of the United States Digital Service within the Office of Management and Budget, Mina Hsiang; White House National Climate Advisor, Ali Zaidi; White House Senior COVID-19 Advisor, formerly Andrew Slavitt; Deputy Assistant to the President Case: 23-30445 Document: 238-1 Page: 72 Date Filed: 09/08/2023No. 23-30445 73 and Director of Digital Strategy, formerly Rob Flaherty; White House COVID-19 Director of Strategic Communications and Engagement, Dori Salcido; White House Digital Director for the COVID-19 Response Team, formerly Clarke Humphrey; Deputy Director of Strategic Communications and Engagement of the White House COVID-19 Response Team, formerly Benjamin Wakana; Deputy Director for Strategic Communications and External Engagement for the White House COVID-19 Response Team, formerly Subhan Cheema; White House COVID-19 Supply Coordinator, formerly Timothy W. Manning; and Chief Medical Advisor to the President, Dr. Hugh Auchincloss, along with their directors, administrators and employees. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy; and Chief Engagement Officer for the Surgeon General, Katharine Dealy, along with their directors, administrators and employees. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), and specifically the following employees: Carol Y. Crawford, Chief of the Digital Media Branch of the CDC Division of Public Affairs; Jay Dempsey, Social-media Team Leader, Digital Media Branch, CDC Division of Public Affairs; and Kate Galatas, CDC Deputy Communications Director. And the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and specifically the following employees: Laura Dehmlow, Section Chief, FBI Foreign Influence Task Force; and Elvis M. Chan, Supervisory Special Agent of Squad CY-1 in the FBI San Francisco Division.