Louisiana Releases Emails in Lawsuit vs. Big Tech, Biden

Emails between Facebook and White House officials over Fox News programming about COVID-19 show the coercive and collusive nature of the Biden administration’s role in censoring information on social media, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) said Monday (see 2301060041). Landry and Missouri AG Andrew Bailey (R) sued the administration, claiming federal officials colluded with Big Tech to censor social media information (docket 3:22-cv-01213). Landry released several court-ordered discovery documents containing April and March email chains between Facebook representatives and White House officials. White House officials asked the platform why a viral video of Fox News host Tucker Carlson about the COVID-19 vaccine didn’t violate platform policies and wasn’t removed. Facebook “dutifully reported” to the White House that the video “received 50% demotion pending a 7-day fact checking period.” Facebook continued to demote the video even though “no fact checking actually occurred,” said Landry. The documents include emails from Rob Flaherty, White House director-digital strategy, who told the company his questions aren’t “rhetorical.” Flaherty wrote the company: “Not for nothing but the last time we did this dance, it ended in an insurrection.” The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the deposition of Flaherty and several other Biden administration officials in the case before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. The White House didn’t comment.