A federal appeals court ruled earlier this month that the White House, the surgeon general, the CDC and the FBI “likely violated the First Amendment” by imposing a pressure campaign on social media companies to censor COVID-19 skeptics — including Stanford epidemiologist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.
“I think this decision is similar to the second Enlightenment,” Bhattacharya told The Post. “It is a ruling that says there is a democracy of ideas. The issue is not whether the idea is wrong or right. The question is who can control the ideas expressed in the public square?”
The court ordered that the Biden administration and other federal agencies “may not take action, formal or informal, directly or indirectly” to compel social media companies to “remove, delete, restrict or curtail” free speech.
Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine, economics and health research policy at Stanford University, co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration in the fall of 2020 with professors from Harvard and Oxford.
Epidemiologists are advocating for “focused protection” — protecting the most vulnerable Americans while carefully allowing others to function as normally as possible — rather than a widespread pandemic shutdown.
The Fifth Circuit Court found that the Biden administration and other federal agencies pressured social media companies to censor differing views about COVID-19.Getty Images
The court found Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is among those indirectly censored by the Biden administration for his views on COVID-19.CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag
“We were just acting as scientists, but almost immediately we were censored,” said Bhattacharya, director of Stanford’s Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. “Google does not encourage us. Our Facebook page has been removed. It’s just a crazy time.
“The things the federal government told social media companies to censor included ours — along with millions of other posts from countless other people criticizing the government’s COVID policy,” he added.
A three-judge panel based in New Orleans found that the federal government “is likely to force or encourage social media platforms to moderate content” by vaguely threatening adverse regulatory consequences if social media companies do not block certain views about the pandemic.
Dr. Bhattacharya (from right) co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration with Oxford researcher Sunreta Gupta and Harvard professor Martin Kulldorff.UnHerd
Bhattacharya is a professor of medicine, economics and health research policy at Stanford University, where he serves as director of the Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging.Getty Images
“The government has a vast refinery enterprise,” Bhattacharya said. “It’s systematically used to threaten and coerce and jawbone and tell all these social media companies, ‘You better listen to us: Filter this person, filter this idea, or vice versa.'”
It was later revealed that then NIH director Dr. Francis Collins called for the “swift and devastating removal” of Bhattacharya and his co-authors – whom Collins called “fringe epidemiologists” – in an email to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
A subsequent report from the so-called Elon Musk’s Twitter Files — internal documents and communications released by Musk, after he bought the platform, to reveal Twitter’s inner workings — revealed that Bhattachrya’s profile was being suppressed on the platform.
“It is similar to the government’s efforts to suppress the printing press when it was first invented, when books represented a great threat to power,” Bhattacharya said, referring to efforts by King Henry VIII and the Catholic Church to curb the use of the printing press. in the 16th century.
“There’s a similar fight going on with social media, which makes it easier for anyone to express their ideas, and very powerful people find that very threatening.”
The September 8 decision affirmed but narrowed a lower court order, issued on July 4 by US District Judge Terry Doughty, which found that the Biden administration and other federal agencies “engaged in a years-long pressure campaign. [on social media outlets] designed to ensure that the censorship aligns with the government’s preferred views” and that “platforms, in submission to government-sponsored pressure, change their moderation policies.”
In an email to Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Francis Collins (above) refers to Bhattacharya and his co-authors as “peripheral epidemiologists.” AP
Bhattacharya said the first victory, even in a lower court, was the most gratifying for him.
“I’m really excited, especially to have it on the 4th of July,” he said. “I think the judge sent a message by issuing this decision on the 4th of July that we are going to restore free speech in this country.”
The Biden administration appealed to the Supreme Court on Thursday – a move Bhattacharya expected.
Judge Terry A. Doughty declared the Biden administration’s actions “Orwellian” in a July 4 decision.Youtube
But he believes it is “unlikely” the Supreme Court will overturn the Fifth Circuit’s decision.
He feels his case is important in curbing government influence over social media — on matters beyond COVID-19 and lockdowns.
“This new technology has created a huge opportunity for people to participate in the debate in the public square,” Bhattacharya said. “And I hope this is the beginning of a legal infrastructure that allows that to happen – rather than the other way around, which is a dark age where governments can decide what’s true and what’s allowed to be said.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
