Government and Big Tech Empowered to Further Erode First Amendment.

Washington, DC. – June 26, 2024. Today the High Court has failed to protect Americans’ free speech - a great threat to our civil rights.

On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, SCOTUS delivered a 6-3 decision not to address the censorship claims of two State Attorneys General in the Murthy v. Missouri case (formerly Missouri v. Biden). Justice Samuel Alito dissented, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch.

Justice Alito stated, “For months, high-ranking Government officials placed unrelenting pressure on Facebook to suppress Americans’ free speech. Because the Court unjustifiably refuses to address this serious threat to the First Amendment, I respectfully dissent.” 

Earlier this year, AFLDS filed an amici curiae brief on behalf of AFLDS and Simone Gold, M.D., J.D. in support of the Respondents for affirmance of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. AFLDS denounces SCOTUS for failing to affirm the lower court's decision to permanently ban government agencies and their employees from colluding with Big Tech companies to suppress free speech over social media.

As stated by an AFLDS affiliated attorney, David Dalia, “It is impossible to overstate the harm to our First Amendment as a result of the United States Supreme Court failing to defend free speech, on the grounds of ‘no legal standing to seek an injunction.’ This brilliant and unique First Amendment lawsuit was filed by the Attorneys General (AG) from the sovereign states of Missouri and Louisiana, along with several heavily censored medical, media, and health freedom leaders. Through extensive discovery, the AGs uncovered countless examples of unconstitutional censorship, coercion, and strong-arming of social media companies by numerous government bureaucrats. These employees were working at the White House, the Surgeon General’s office, CDC, NIH, HHS, FBI, the Census Bureau, and others. The 155-page trial court opinion by Judge Terry A. Doughty, released on July 4th, 2023 called the government’s censorship in this case arguably ‘the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history.’”

For example, White House Director Rob Flaherty told Twitter to immediately remove content which was  critical of the Biden family. Twitter complied within 5 minutes. Flaherty’s demands were sometimes accompanied by cursing and threats. Flaherty also demanded that Facebook immediately tell him why they weren’t removing COVID posts quickly enough when he instructed them to do so.  Surgeon General Murthy similarly told Facebook that he wanted Facebook to do more to censor speech which he deemed to be misinformation, and demanded information that showed Facebook’s compliance with these demands. Dozens of other examples were entered into evidence. We are shocked that the Supreme Court is allowing this illegal and unconstitutional government censorship of free speech to continue while this case is pending. 

Our federal government targeted and silenced dissenting voices speaking out against the “approved” COVID-19 narrative. Clear evidence of such censorship was seen in July 2020 when AFLDS’ viral White Coat Summit video received 20 million views in 8 hours before being taken down across all social media platforms at the behest of Anthony Fauci. AFLDS recognizes that the weaponization of censorship poses the single greatest threat to our Nation. The Censorship Industrial Complex (CIC) has the power to destroy our Nation from within. The evidence in this lawsuit showed that the institutionalized censorship went far beyond the narrative of COVID and included medical mutilation, climate change, election integrity, economic issues and Hunter Biden. 

In response to SCOTUS’ ruling, AFLDS Founder and President Dr. Simone Gold added that “Murthy v. Missouri is a deeply personal case for me due to the tremendous amount of work that I have done over the last few years and the tyranny I experienced first-hand. I was named by our own government as one of the worst purveyors of COVID-19 misinformation. They violated my constitutional liberties. And in doing so, they trampled on the rights of all Americans.”

This case will continue to be litigated, as only the plaintiffs’ injunction against the governmental defendants was reversed. Plaintiffs’ other important claims of First Amendment violations, governmental actions taken in excess of its statutory authority, and Administrative Procedures Act violations, remain for adjudication by motion or by a trial on the merits. Hopefully plaintiffs will prevail at trial on these other important claims. 

We also note that the petition for relief of Rogan O’Handley (aka D.C. Draino) remains pending in his  linked social media censorship case of O’Handley v. Weber. Mr. O’Handley’s petition has been held by SCOTUS  for more than a year, presumably pending this decision.  

The High Court’s ruling in the Murthy v. Missouri case represents a dark day for free speech and civil liberties in our Nation - further advancing the corporate and fascist agenda of the Censorship Industrial Complex. AFLDS will continue to fight the tyranny of weaponized censorship no matter who wields it.

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