Judge blocks federal officials from contacting tech companies (www.engadget.com)

submitted 1 year ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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A judge has blocked the Biden administration and other federal officials from communicating with social media companies in a case that could have far-reaching consequences for the country..

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[+] Tosti@feddit.nl 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

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[-] Jaysyn@kbin.social 11 points 1 year ago

Long story short, this judge thinks lying to the public about a pandemic, during a pandemic, is protected speech.

[-] HelixDab@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

Well... Yes, it probably is. Because it's political speech, and because there's not a direct link to fraud or causal harm. See US v. Alvarez, 617 F. 3d 1198. When Trump says that he's a stable genius, that's protected speech even though 180 degrees opposed to the truth.

You'll notice that e.g. what Trump's attorneys said in public was very, very different from what they said to courts; it's a criminal offense to lie to courts, but it's largely legal and protected to lie to the public for political ends.

[-] treadful@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 year ago

Calling disinformation about a global pandemic political speech sure is something.

[-] SophismaCognoscente@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I hate that I agree with this. On the one hand, “lying about a pandemic during a pandemic” sure sounds a lot like “shouting fire in a crowded theater,” but things like the lab leak theory aren’t really a matter of public health. While there are times when the government can and should fight dangerous misinformation, this is the kind of executive power that needs to be kept in check by the courts for the executive’s own good.

[-] Brunbrun6766@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

And they're going to show us this evidence right?..........right?

[-] Overzeetop@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

Is this evidence in the room with us right now?

[-] Xeelee@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

What are you, some kind of communist? Of course not. They said it exists. That's enough.

[-] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I'd like to know more details about the nature of the contacts. If the WH told a social media platform that they must remove some content "or else," that could be problematic for me. But if it was "Hey, we think this story is false and you should delete it" (said to a private entity), I don't see what the issue is.

[-] anlumo@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago

That’s one of the consequences of the damage that the Trump presidency did to the US that will haunt the country for the decades to come.

[-] BurnTheRight@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Conservative opinions and comments are always inappropriate. Always. Every word uttered by a conservative is deception, manipulation, or dog-whistling some form of hate. Every single utterance.

Conservatism is inappropriate to publish. We should be moving to extinguish the plague of hatred and anti-science idiocy rather than defending it as "free speech". Conservative speech is hate speech and should never be treated as free speech.

[-] Javish@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

What horse shit.

[-] Jaysyn@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago

So that means Trump can't contact Truth Social & DeSantis can't contact Twitter if we fuck up & elect another fascist, right?

this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2023

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