Google: US government officials ordered to limit contact with Google, Facebook, Twitter: Here’s why – Times of India

By Andrew McCollum On Jul 5, 2023

A federal judge in the US has ordered some agencies and top officials of the US President Joe Biden administration to contact social media companies including Facebook parent Meta, Twitter, YouTube/Google, WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat, TikTok and other platforms. The order is aimed at limiting their role in moderating content.
According to a report by news agency Reuters, the ruling blocks government agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services, and the FBI for connecting with social media companies for “the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech” under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

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The judge also restricted officials, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Jen Easterly, heads of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency from connecting with social media giants.It must be noted that the government can communicate with social media giants in its efforts to curb illegal activity and address national security threats on the platforms.
The injunction is seen as a victory for Republicans who have accused officials of censorship.
The US government said that the platforms failed to address misinformation and that they were aiming to tamp down misinformation about COVID vaccines to curb preventable deaths.
Here’s what the government has to say
A White House official was cited as saying that the Justice Department is “reviewing the court’s injunction and will evaluate its options in this case.”

“This Administration has promoted responsible actions to protect public health, safety, and security when confronted by challenges like a deadly pandemic and foreign attacks on our elections. Our consistent view remains that social media platforms have a critical responsibility to take account of the effects their platforms are having on the American people, but make independent choices about the information they present,” the White House official said.