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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled in favor of President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday in a dispute with Republican-ruled states over how far the federal government can go to crack down on controversial information on social media about issues including COVID-19 and election integrity.
The justices voted 6-3 to overturn a lower court ruling in favor of Louisiana, Missouri and other players who have accused the Democratic administration of pressuring the platforms to unconstitutionally suppress conservative viewpoints.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the majority, said the complainants had no legal standing to sue. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented.
The decision should not affect ordinary users of the social network or the content they wish to post on it.
It is one of several cases the Supreme Court is evaluating this period that have to do with free speech on social networks. In February, the court heard arguments on laws passed by Republicans in Florida and Texas that prohibit social media companies from removing messages based on the viewpoints they express. In March, the court unveiled the criteria by which public officials can block their followers on the network.
The state law cases and the one decided Wednesday are variations on the same theme: accusations that social media censors conservative viewpoints.
The states argued that the White House communications department, the nation’s public health director, the FBI and the U.S. cybersecurity agency all exerted “relentless pressure” on the social network to change its content.
The justices were deeply skeptical of the claims when they heard arguments in March, with some expressing concern that normal interactions between public officials and the platforms could be affected if they ruled in favor of the states.
The Biden administration has highlighted those concerns, noting that the government would lose the ability to communicate with companies about anti-Semitic or anti-Islamic content, as well as issues of national security, public health and election integrity.
In their ruling Wednesday, however, the justices did not comment on the substance of the states’ claims or the government’s response.
“We begin and end with the question of standing to sue,” Barrett wrote. “At this point, neither the individual nor the state plaintiffs have demonstrated that they have standing to sue any of the defendants for relief. Therefore, we lack jurisdiction to decide the merits of the controversy.”
Alito wrote in his dissent that the states had adequately demonstrated their standing to sue. “For months, senior government officials have applied relentless pressure on Facebook to stifle Americans’ free speech. Because the Court unreasonably refuses to respond to this grave threat to the First Amendment, I respectfully dissent,” Alito wrote for the minority.
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