Supreme Court justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s comments on Monday regarding the 1st Amendment amid the Murthy v. Missouri case has Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters raise concerns.
On Monday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case brought by two Republican attorneys general from Louisiana and Missouri, as well as five social media users, who accused the Biden administration of going too far in putting pressure on social media platforms to take down misinformation. The plaintiffs argued the moderation of content amounted to censorship that violated their First Amendment rights.
But justices across the ideological spectrum appeared highly skeptical about the claims that the Biden administration crossed the line and coerced private companies into removing problematic content.
The court’s decision in this and other social media cases is expected to make an impact as it could set standards for free speech in the digital age.
During Monday’s arguments, Jackson was one of the justices who seemed skeptical of a ruling that would broadly restrict the government’s communications with social media platforms, as she raised concerns about “hamstringing” officials’ ability to communicate with platforms about certain matters, specifically posting towards the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Newsweek has reached out to the Supreme Court via an online form for comment.
“Your view has the first amendment hamstringing the government in significant ways in the most important time periods…Some might say that the government actually has a duty to take steps to protect the citizens of this country, and you seem to be suggesting that that duty cannot manifest itself in the government encouraging or even pressuring platforms to take down harmful information,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson told Benjamin Aguiñaga, the Louisiana solicitor general. “I’m really worried about that, because you’ve got the First Amendment operating in an environment of threatening circumstances from the government’s perspective, and you’re saying the government can’t interact with the source of those problems.”
Since Jackson’s comments, some MAGA supporters have taken to X, formerly Twitter, to raise concerns over them and the 1st amendment.
Republican representative Dan Bishop of North Carolina noted Jackson’s comments writing on X, “Chilling indeed.”
Charlie Kirk, founder and president of the conservative organization Turning Point USA wrote, “Color me shocked that the same Justice who doesn’t know what a woman is doesn’t know what the First Amendment is either.”
Republican Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio said, “This is scary. As Justice Brandeis said, we need ‘more speech, not enforced silence.’ But today’s Left doesn’t see it that way.”
However, Jackson was not the only justice to raise skepticism. Justice Sonia Sotomayor also took issue with Aguiñaga.
“I have such a problem with your brief,” Sotomayor told Aguiñaga. “You omit information that changes the context of some of your claims. You attribute things to people that it didn’t happen to…I don’t know what to make of all this because I’m not sure how we get to prove direct injury in any way.”
Aguiñaga apologized and said he takes “full responsibility” for any aspects of their filings that were not forthcoming.
The lawsuit makes various claims relating to events that occurred in 2020 and before, including the pandemic and the presidential election, but the district court ruling—which has imposed an injunction limiting contact between government officials and social media companies—focuses on actions taken by federal officials after Biden was sworn into office in January 2021.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.