on Wednesday rejected a First Amendment challenge to the Biden administration's communication with social media companies in an effort to remove misinformation on the platforms about COVID-19 and the 2020 election.Barrett, writing for the majority, said two Republican-led states and five individual users lacked standing to sue the government because they could not show that the government outreach directly resulted in censorship of their views.
MORE: Supreme Court likely to reject strict limits on government contact with social media companies in free speech case The plaintiffs "must demonstrate a substantial risk that, in the near future, they will suffer an injury that is traceable to a government defendant," Barrett wrote. The court concluded they did not meet that bar.
Public health and election integrity groups praised the decision as a win for efforts to ensure accurate information is available to users.analysts have said it will also ensure the government can continue to freely coordinate with the online companies over threats."For months, high-ranking government officials placed unrelenting pressure on Facebook to suppress Americans' free speech," he wrote.