Experts warn House GOPers are pushing 'far-right conspiracy nonsense' ahead of 2024

10 July 2023

After Louisiana District Court Judge Terry A. Doughty ruled against against President Joe Biden administration officials earlier this month, legal experts questioned the legitimacy of the conservative's decision.

Doughty, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, issued a temporary injunction banning federal agencies from talking to social media companies with 'the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.'"

Following his ruling, Reuters reported "Several legal scholars and attorneys said while the lawsuit challenging the administration's communications with social media companies raised real free speech concerns, there was no precedent to support the sweeping preliminary order" given by" Doughty "that would sharply limit dozens of government agencies and officials' communications with social media companies."

The Guardian reports in addition to questions around the legal standing of Doughty's injunction — the decision "is also the latest in a wider rightwing campaign to weaken attempts at stopping false information and conspiracy theories from proliferating online, one that has included framing disinformation researchers and their efforts as part of a wide-reaching censorship regime."

As a result of the ruling, "Many of the researchers involved have faced significant harassment, leading to fears of a chilling effect on speaking out against disinformation ahead of the 2024 presidential election," according to the report.

The news outlet also points to the fact House GOP members "have put pressure on researchers through a House select subcommittee investigation that launched in January and claims it will look into the 'weaponization of the federal government,'" adding, "House judiciary committee chair, Jim Jordan, earlier this year issued a wide-ranging request for information and documents to multiple universities with programs aimed at researching disinformation, and has so far sent dozens of subpoenas."

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts) criticized Jordan's ploy, saying, "This committee is nothing more than a deranged ploy by the Maga extremists who have hijacked the Republican party and now want to use taxpayer money to push their far-right conspiracy nonsense."

American Prospect's Ryan Cooper recently criticized Doughty's ruling, arguing it is a "'conspiracy theory' claiming that Twitter conspired against conservatives before Elon Musk purchased the company and took over as CEO," noting, "The plaintiffs claim they were silenced when pre-Musk Twitter deleted posts expressing opposition to COVID-19 vaccines."

Furthermore, The Guardian emphasizes, "Disinformation researchers have stated that Republican efforts to push back against content moderation and safeguards against misinformation threaten to open the floodgates for conspiracy theories and falsehoods ahead of the 2024 presidential election."

The New Republic's full report is available at this link.

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