Facebook, US Defeat User’s Viewpoint-Bias Suit Over Covid Posts

Facebook, Twitter, and the federal government defeated a social media user’s lawsuit alleging they violated his First Amendment rights by removing posts related to Covid-19 and blocking his accounts.

Plaintiff Justin Hart failed to show that the federal government was deeply involved in the decisionmaking of Facebook—owned by Meta Platforms Inc.—and Twitter—now known as X Corp.—when his posts were removed. He therefore failed to establish that the social media companies were engaged in state action in removing them, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said Friday.

Hart also lacked standing to sue the federal government ...