Government Censorship on Social Media Platforms and First Amendment Violations

The chapter discusses a Supreme Court ruling that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution not only prohibits the state from directly censoring speech, but also bans the government from coercing a private actor to remove certain speech through threats and coercion. It highlights how the Democratic Party's view on internet censorship clashed with this constitutional idea, and how a United States district court ruled that the government, including agencies like the FBI and CDC, had crossed the line by aggressively demanding social media platforms to censor speech they disliked. The chapter discusses a lawsuit in which plaintiffs allege that social media platforms have been suppressing content and viewpoints through collusion or coercion with disinformation. The plaintiffs argue that this constitutes government action and a violation of their freedom of speech under the First Amendment.