Columbus, OH – On Monday, The Buckeye Institute filed its second amicus brief in Missouri v. Biden. This one urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to uphold a preliminary injunction—that forbids the Biden Administration from “jawboning” social media companies to censor viewpoints the government does not agree with—until the case is resolved. 

“As the district court’s order makes clear, by ‘jawboning’—or wheedling, cajoling, and in some cases, threatening regulated entities—the executive branch essentially commandeered private actors to censor speech the government disagreed with,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute. “If the government were always right, one might justify governmental infringement on free speech. However, as The Buckeye Institute demonstrates in its brief, it is not. Fortunately, the First Amendment precludes such infringement.”

In this brief, The Buckeye Institute highlights several examples going back to World War II, when the federal government provided the American public with information only to find later that the government’s initial assessment was, in fact, wrong. Carson continued, “Society has the right and civic duty to engage in open, dynamic, rational discourse. These ends are poorly served when the government seeks to orchestrate public discussion through content-based mandates.”

On July 4, 2023—Independence Day—the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana ruled that the “Plaintiffs have presented substantial evidence in support of their claims that they were the victims of a far-reaching and widespread censorship campaign” and that they are “likely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment free speech claim” against the federal government.

New Civil Liberties Alliance is arguing Missouri v. Biden. The Buckeye Institute filed its first amicus brief in the case on April 18, 2023.

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UPDATE: On September 8, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the preliminary injunction for some government officials, including officials in the White House.