The request to stay the order was the first substantive government reaction to a July 4 ruling by US Judge Terry Doughty in Monroe.
Doughty, a conservative appointee of former President Donald Trump, issued an injunction on Tuesday preventing various government agencies and officials from meeting or communicating with social media companies to “in any way encourage, coerce, or induce the removal, removal, concealment, or reduction of content that contains protected free expression”.
The order also prohibits agencies and officials from lobbying social media companies to try to remove posts, raising questions about what officials could even say in public forums.
Doughty’s order prevents the government from taking such actions pending the presentation of additional arguments in court following the lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana.
In their brief filed Thursday night in the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, prosecutors led by Deputy Attorney General Brian M. Boynton described the order as “ambiguous.” They said the order could prevent the Biden administration from “talking about issues of public interest and working with social media companies on initiatives to prevent serious harm to the American people and our democratic processes.”
They said that “these immediate and continuing damages to the government exceed any danger of harm to the plaintiffs if the stay were granted.”
Opponents of the ruling say it could hamper efforts to suppress misinformation on various topics, including health and elections. Supporters of the injunction say it prevents the government from illegally censoring views.
FUENTE: Associated Press
