Republican AGs Allege Biden Officials Colluded With Big Tech on Censorship
The Biden administration colluded with social media platforms to censor and suppress truthful information, Republican attorneys general in Missouri and Louisiana alleged in a lawsuit Thursday. Filed by Missouri AG Eric Schmitt and Louisiana AG Jeff Landry, the lawsuit names President Joe Biden, Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Chief Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, DHS Disinformation Governance Board Director Nina Jankowicz, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and others. The administration “pressured and colluded” with social media giants Meta, Twitter and YouTube to censor information on various topics, including COVID-19, the lawsuit claims. It cites several instances of truthful information it said was censored by platforms and later verified as credible: the efficacy of masks, the Wuhan, China, lab leak story and the Hunter Biden laptop story. The federal government violated the First Amendment by colluding with platforms in the censorship, the lawsuit said: Officials “coerced, threatened, and pressured social-media platforms to censor disfavored speakers and viewpoints by using threats of adverse government action.” The White House didn’t comment.