WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments this Monday in a case alleging that the Biden administration violated the First Amendment by pressuring—or “jawboning”—the social media companies into removing apparent misinformation relating to public health and the 2020 U.S. elections. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed an amicus brief in the case in support of neither party.

The following can be attributed to Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. 

“This is an immensely important case that will determine the power of the government to pressure the social media platforms into suppressing speech. Our hope is that the Supreme Court will clarify the constitutional line between coercion and persuasion. The government has no authority to threaten platforms into censoring protected speech, but it must have the ability to participate in public discourse so that it can effectively govern and inform the public of its views.”

Read the Institute’s brief here.

Last fall, the Knight Institute announced a new research initiative on jawboning and the First Amendment. As part of this inquiry, the Institute published a series of short thought pieces by legal experts, former social media platform representatives, and civil society advocates that considered the legal and practical questions raised in Murthy v. Missouri. Read the series here.

For more information, contact: Adriana Lamirande, [email protected].