Agreement Protects Free Speech from Federal Pressure on Social Media

Washington, D.C. — March 26, 2026

A proposed consent decree has been filed in State of Missouri v. Biden (Civil Action No. 22-cv-1213), marking a major development in one of the most significant First Amendment cases in modern history.

On March 24, 2026, the parties (both Plaintiffs and Defendants) jointly moved the Western District Court of Louisiana to enter a consent decree that would resolve this landmark case and impose enforceable limits on the government’s ability to pressure or coerce social media companies to censor protected speech.

The original case was brought by the States of Missouri and Louisiana, along with individual Plaintiffs including highly credentialed physicians, against federal officials and agencies for orchestrating what courts have already recognized as a broad censorship operation targeting Americans’ speech on critical public issues. That operation included direct and sustained communication between federal agencies and social media companies, including requests, demands, and escalating pressure to suppress disfavored viewpoints.

The Court is now being asked to approve a binding agreement that would govern federal conduct for years to come.

If entered, the consent decree would prohibit the government from taking actions, formal or informal, directly or indirectly, to threaten social media companies with punishment, unless they remove, suppress, or reduce protected free speech, including through threats of regulatory or legal consequences. The agreement follows extensive discovery, issued by U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty, which showed that the federal government likely engaged in a coordinated campaign of censorship on a scale rarely seen in American history. 

These findings included examples of physicians and experts being silenced after speaking publicly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Judge Doughty even recognized that our instantly viral July 2020 White Coat Summit, which was removed across major platforms within hours, was “censored” at the behest of Anthony Fauci. Judge Doughty called this government censorship scheme “the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history.”

America’s Frontline Doctors (AFLDS) filed two amici curiae briefs in support of the Plaintiffs, defending the fundamental right of physicians and citizens to speak openly without government interference. However, in June 2024, the Supreme Court failed to protect Americans’ free speech and reversed the Fifth Circuit’s preliminary injunction against the rampant censorship by Biden officials, on the thin ground of “standing” - representing a dark day for free speech and civil liberties in our Nation. 

“This case lays bare an unconstitutional scheme in which Biden government officials used pressure and threats to force private companies to silence disfavored speech,” said AFLDS attorney David Dalia. “In doing so, they turned private platforms into instruments of government censorship. The First Amendment does not permit the government to coerce third parties to do what it is forbidden from doing itself. The unprecedented discovery in Missouri v. Biden revealed the arrogance of these government bureaucrats. They would berate, demand, shout at, bully and curse private company employees to remove legal free speech simply because they didn’t like what was being said. They disregarded the First Amendment. This great consent decree should finally put an end to these unconstitutional censorship actions by government officials.”

AFLDS maintains that government officials may not coerce, strongarm, or threaten private social media companies to remove or suppress free speech with which they disagree, warning that such conduct strikes at the core of constitutional protections. We exposed this structure as a coordinated system of censorship, where government actors and private platforms aligned to control the flow of information while avoiding constitutional accountability.

“The First Amendment is not just one right among many, it is the foundation that protects all the others,” said Dr. Simone Gold, Founder and President of America’s Frontline Doctors. “When the government pressures private companies to silence doctors, scientists, or citizens, it is not protecting the public. It is controlling what Americans are allowed to think, say, and hear. That is incompatible with a free society.”

The consent decree, if approved, would remain in effect for ten years, creating a long-term check on federal overreach in the digital public square. This case represents a defining test of whether constitutional protections still apply in the modern era of government influence over private platforms.

Stay tuned for further updates as the Court considers entry of the consent decree.

# # #

About AFLDS

We are the Nation's independent authority on ethical and transparent standards in science, health, and human rights. We provide individuals with unbiased and accurate information from the world's top experts in medicine and law so you can be empowered with facts to protect your rights, take care of your health, and safeguard your future. Visit AFLDS.org
 

Media Contact Lisa Alexander, Executive Director | Media@AFLDS.org