Joe Biden's Social Media Ban Explained as Judge Restricts White House

On Tuesday, a Trump-appointed judge in Louisiana prohibited a three-page list of federal agencies and U.S. President Joe Biden's administration from working with social media companies to limit or censor "protected free speech" on their platforms.

In a case brought by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana in 2022 against Biden and other members of his administration, Judge Terry A. Doughty ruled that officials had overstepped their constitutional remit by asking the online firms to suppress coronavirus vaccine "disinformation."

While Biden administration officials had sought for social-media companies to address posts that could have resulted in vaccine hesitancy or negatively impact on the holding of elections, Doughty wrote in a supplementary memorandum that the evidence submitted to the court "depicts an almost dystopian scenario."

The ruling bars a number of federal agencies and officials from "urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech" on social media, either by meeting or communicating with company representatives, or flagging specific posts.