The Department of Justice on Thursday requested that the U.S. Supreme Court stay an appeals court injunction earlier this month that limited the federal government's communications with social media firms.
Namely, the DOJ asked (pdf) the justices to stay a lower court's decision that found federal officials had likely violated the free speech protections of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment by coercing social media platforms into censoring certain posts, including regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This application concerns an unprecedented injunction installing the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana as the superintendent of the Executive Branch’s communications with and about social-media platforms — including senior White House officials’ speech addressing some of the most salient public issues of the day,” U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote in a filing.