The Supreme Court on Wednesday rebuffed states and anti-lockdown advocates who said the government violated their First Amendment rights by asking social media giants to remove or limit coronavirus misinformation.
The 6-3 decision frees federal officials to talk with social media companies about combating misinformation. The majority found that the states and advocates didn’t have standing to bring the case, because they didn’t show that the government’s actions harmed them or that the government officials directly affected the policies of the social media companies.
The case, Murthy v. Missouri, centered on whether Biden officials overstepped their authority when pressing platforms like Facebook and Twitter to remove or downgrade posts questioning vaccine safety, masking policies, and theories about the virus’ origins.
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