The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the efforts of the Biden administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to convince tech companies to remove certain online posts related to COVID-19 likely violated the First Amendment, The Washington Post reported. The three Republican-appointed judges said in their decision that White House officials likely “coerced the platforms to make their moderation decisions by way of intimidating messages and threats of adverse consequences.” The decision modifies a lower court injunction that prohibited a wide range of officials from encouraging tech platforms to remove posts; the order now applies only to the FBI, White House, CDC and the Surgeon General.
