WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL), with co-counsel Christopher Mills, filed a brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on behalf of Representatives Jim Jordan, Kelly Armstrong, Andy Biggs, Dan Bishop, Kat Cammack, Russell Fry, Lance Gooden, Harriet Hageman, Mike Johnson, Thomas Massie, Elise Stefanik, and Barry Moore in Missouri v. Biden–a historic case that highlighted the federal government’s role in the censorship industrial complex.
Wielding threats of intervention, the federal government has engaged in a sustained effort to coerce private parties into censoring speech on matters of public concern. On issue after issue, the Biden Administration has distorted the free marketplace of ideas promised by the First Amendment, bringing the weight of federal authority to bear on any speech it dislikes—down to memes on social media.
Americans have watched their First Amendment rights slipping away for years as the Biden Administration has censored and silenced anyone with dissenting views to their extremist agenda. Whether it was concern about COVID-19 vaccines or the virus itself, election integrity, or the double standard of justice in the United States, the Biden Administration did not cease in their effort to violate and suppress freedom of speech, all while promulgating propaganda to benefit their corrupt narrative.
America First Legal has long defended freedom of speech, uncovering collusion between tech companies and the government to silence Americans and suing the architects behind the censorship industrial complex, among a flurry of other critical legal actions.
The brief highlights the extent to which the federal government coerced private entities into censoring Americans’ speech–highlighting in particular recent explosive records from the Facebook Files:
America First Legal is proud to stand with Representative Jordan, Massie, Fry, Gooden, Bishop, Johnson, Armstrong, Biggs, Cammack, Hageman, Moore, and Stefanik to defend the First Amendment and conservative viewpoints.
Statement from Stephen Miller, America First Legal President:
“We at America First Legal are deeply honored to represent Chairman Jim Jordan and members of the House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government in filing this incredibly important brief to the Fifth Circuit. The Committee has uncovered a cache of extraordinarily damning files documenting the extent of the government’s collusion with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta to unlawfully censor speech protected under the First Amendment. This amicus urgently calls the Court’s attention to these new findings and establishes why the court must affirm the decision below and stop the government from any further collusive behavior with Meta and other Big Tech to unconstitutionally silence or censor Americans’ speech and political expression. Freedom and democracy itself depend on the outcome of this case. If Big Government and Big Tech — exemplified by Mark Zuckerberg — can together erase your speech, then by no definition are we a free nation.” said Stephen Miller.
Statement from Representative Jim Jordan (OH-04), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee:
“The extensive investigation of the House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government has uncovered smoking gun documents showing how Big Tech and Big Government worked together to stifle free speech online. We know through the Facebook Files that the Biden Administration directed Big Tech companies to censor speech the government disagreed with, and launched a pressure campaign when companies did not comply with these censorship orders quickly enough.
The First Amendment is among our most precious rights as Americans, and we must continue to fight to preserve it. The Judiciary Committee and the Weaponization Subcommittee are dedicated to that task. We appreciate the assistance of the America First Legal Foundation and Spero Law LLC who are filing today’s amicus brief on behalf of eleven Members.” said Representative Jordan.
Read the brief here.
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