Federal Appeals Court Quietly Gives Biden Win to Censor Free Speech

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday temporarily paused a preliminary injunction prohibiting Biden administration officials from colluding with social media companies to censor free speech.

A federal judge ruled on July 4th that Biden administration officials and social media companies colluded together and likely violated the First Amendment rights of Americans by censoring free speech during the COVID-19 plandemic.

U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump-appointee, blocked contact between federal government officials and social media companies.

JUST IN: Federal Judge Issues Ruling in Biden Admin-Big Tech Censorship Case

However, the federal appeals court put Doughty’s injunction on hold “until further orders of the court.”

The 5th Circuit order "called for arguments in the case to be scheduled on an expedited basis," the Associated Press reports.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday granted a temporary stay of a July 4 order putting sweeping limitations on the Biden administration’s communications with social media companies. https://t.co/6S8Is82CJ6

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 14, 2023

AP reports:

Filed last year, the lawsuit claimed the administration, in effect, censored free speech by discussing possible regulatory action the government could take while pressuring companies to remove what it deemed misinformation. COVID-19 vaccines, legal issues involving President Joe Biden’s son Hunter and election fraud allegations were among the topics spotlighted in the lawsuit.

Doughty, nominated to the federal bench by former President Donald Trump, issued an Independence Day order and accompanying reasons that covered more than 160 pages. He said the plaintiffs were likely to win their ongoing lawsuit. His injunction blocked the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI and multiple other government agencies and administration officials from “encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.”

Administration lawyers said the order was overly broad and vague, raising questions about what officials can say in conversations with social media companies or in public statements. They said Doughty’s order posed a threat of “grave” public harm by chilling executive branch efforts to combat online misinformation.

The Biden administration filed a notice of appeal the day following Doughty's preliminary injunction.

BREAKING: The Biden Administration has officially filed a notice of appeal in the Missouri v. Biden Censorship case after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction order barring government officials from contacting social media companies to suppress lawful speech pic.twitter.com/DAbdGuFVFS

— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) July 5, 2023

Doughty rejected the Biden administration's request for the stay on Monday.

"Defendants argue that the injunction should be stayed because it might interfere with the Government’s ability to continue working with social-media companies to censor Americans’ core political speech on the basis of viewpoint. In other words, the Government seeks a stay of the injunction so that it can continue violating the First Amendment," Doughty wrote.

However, a three-judge panel for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans granted the Biden administration's request.

On Friday, a three-judge panel for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued a decision granting the Biden administration’s request to put the censorship-by-proxy ban on hold. https://t.co/qgJiNmPmFa

— Barb Loe, NVIC (@NVICLoeDown) July 15, 2023

Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) told Cowboy State Daily she thinks the Fifth Circuit ultimately rules against the Biden administration.

Cowboy State Daily reports:

Hageman said the temporary stay is one step in the process, but far from the end.

“I am fully confident that the Fifth Circuit will ultimately conclude that the Biden administration has been using social media surrogates to circumvent the First Amendment rights of American citizens,” said Hageman. “The bottom line is that we must use all tools available to hold our government responsible to the Constitution.”

Hageman has been a tough critic of the federal executive branch, including the FBI. The agency played a major role in speech suppression leading up to the 2020 presidential election, according to Doughty’s July 4 filing.