New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) attempted — and failed miserably — to hop on the line of the anti-free speech buffet, despite a court injunction barring second helpings.
In an Oct. 13 letter, James pressured Big Tech companies to provide answers about their censorship of content related to the Israeli-Hamas war, despite facing a federal court order blocking her from doing so. “I am calling on these companies to explain how they are addressing threats and how they will ensure that no online platform is used to further terrorist activities,” James declared in the letter addressed to Google, Meta, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Reddit. James initially targeted the pro-free speech Rumble, however, rescinded her letter amid scathing criticism and pushback from the platform’s attorneys.
According to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), James had violated a federal court’s injunction barring the state’s Online Hate Speech Law, a 2022 law that was found to have violated the First Amendment of social media users. In response, FIRE, which represented Rumble in the lawsuit against the infamous law, successfully called for the “immediate and unequivocal retraction” of the letter.
“If you do not rescind your letters, then we will be required to file a motion with the district court to enforce the terms of the preliminary injunction and stay of proceedings,” FIRE attorneys Jay Diaz and Daniel Ortner wrote in a lengthy 10-page letter. A smack down James ultimately caved in. “In the interest of avoiding any unnecessary dispute, this Office hereby withdraws the voluntary requests set forth in its October 12, 2023 letter to Rumble,” said James’s office on Oct. 19.
Well, that was fast!
— FIRE (@TheFIREorg) October 20, 2023
Less than 24 hours after FIRE threatened legal action, the NY attorney general has backed down—rescinding her unconstitutional demand on @rumblevideo to censor protected speech, in violation of multiple federal court orders. https://t.co/WIOYp6SvVF pic.twitter.com/DbrHBK7FeZ
James’ letter came after a federal judge blocked the Online Hate Speech Law in February 2023, saying that the measure “both compels social media networks to speak about the contours of hate speech and chills the constitutionally protected speech of social media users, without articulating a compelling governmental interest or ensuring that the law is narrowly tailored to that goal.” She has since appealed the case to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Either James suffered from forgetfulness or she just didn’t care. The embattled attorney general, known for her insatiable power-hungry tactics, demanded answers on specific actions that social media companies have taken to prevent “violence against Jewish and Muslims people and institutions.” But there’s more. The letter also pressures the companies to detail internal policies regarding “disciplining, suspending, and/or banning users for posting content that has been removed for spreading calls for violence.”
James joined a chorus of leftist politicians seeking to weaponize the Israeli-Hamas war to prop up their anti-free speech agenda. On Oct. 17, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) echoed James’s talking points in a similarly pro-censorship letter addressed to TikTok, Google, Meta and X. Most infamously, the European Union took a step further, threatening to impose fines on the companies that refuse to increase their censorship operations.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on so-called “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
