Thread by @vidushi_law

@ProgressChamber has joined an amicus brief, alongside @NetChoice, @ccianet, and @CatoInstitute regarding Murthy v. Missouri (formerly known as Missouri v. Biden) which is now pending before the Supreme Court.

You can read our full brief here:
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/2…

Murthy is a case that implicates the First Amendment rights of social media platforms and the ability of the government to censor/control how they host content.

washingtonexaminer.com/policy/technol…

Missouri and Louisiana AGs, in their initial case, contended that Biden administration officials violated the First Amendment by pressuring companies like Meta, Twitter/X, and YouTube to suppress content relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A preliminary injunction froze communications between tech companies and the gov't. The Supreme Court stayed the injunction while it considers arguments on whether gov't communications w/ social media led to censorship and if the breadth and terms of the injunction were proper.

Amici take no position in support of either party in this case but holds that "the government may not use informal means to compel speech it could not compel directly."

The Court must therefore “look through forms” and prohibit even “informal” government action whose “substance” abridges First Amendment freedoms.

Amici also posit that when jawboning infringes online speech, the focus for redress must be the government, not coerced providers.

Jawboning refers to the "inappropriate demands made of private actors by government officials."
cato.org/policy-analysi…

The gov't is solely responsible when it coerces a private party to restrict speech that the gov't itself cannot reach.

Digital service providers forced to follow government direction on editorial decisions suffer a First Amendment injury themselves & must not be held liable.

It is critical to underscore that a Supreme Court decision in this case can set major precedent concerning digital service providers' freedom of expression and their ability to make decisions about what content they host or remove.