Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on March 19 that the government should avoid intervening in social media policies because such actions could create a “First Amendment problem.”
During an interview with NewsNation, Mr. Kennedy said he believed that social media platforms should be free to establish “programs, processes, or community rules with a consensus.”
“I don’t think the government should be involved,” he said. “Social media sites ought to be able to police their sites to take off kiddie porn, to take off advocates of violence or racism or whatever.
“Once the government gets involved and tells them what to do, then you know, we have a First Amendment problem. That should never happen.”
Mr. Kennedy told NewsNation that “President Joe Biden had people within his White House” instructing social media platforms to remove Mr. Kennedy’s posts.
The court appeared wary of the respondents’ arguments that the White House is prevented under the Constitution from recommending to social media companies to remove posts it considers harmful.
Deputy Solicitor General Brian Fletcher argued that the White House’s communications with news media and social media companies do not rise to the level of governmental “coercion,” which is prohibited under the Constitution.
Several justices asked the government questions about what conduct fell inside and outside the scope of “coercion.”
Justice Neil Gorsuch cited President Joe Biden’s statement that social media companies were “killing people” with misinformation during the pandemic, and asked whether this was coercive. Mr. Fletcher argued that “this was exhortation, not threat.”
Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguiñaga, representing the respondents, argued that the case demonstrates “unrelenting pressure by the government to coerce social media platforms to suppress the speech of millions of Americans.”
He contended that the government used its authority to pressure social media platforms to demote pieces of information it wants suppressed, causing them to “routinely cave” in response to government influence.
