MRC Free Speech America update summary: After the historic 2024 election, special prosecutor Jack Smith resigned, abandoning his cases against President Donald Trump, mooting the immediate issue. And now, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously ruled in favor of X, limiting the U.S. government's ability to issue gag orders. However, the initial impact of courts permitting Musk and Trump’s communications to be silenced remains, and any impact that may have had on the 2024 election — such as decreasing Republican turnout in significant Senate elections.
The following article is a supplement to the MRC Report: The Biden Administration Waged War on Free Speech with 57 Censorship Initiatives.
Initiative #24: X Corp v. United States
Type of Censorship: Direct Action
Agencies Involved:
- Department of Justice
- Office of the Solicitor General
- Office of the Special Prosecutor Jack Smith
Summary:
In addition to ordering Big Tech to censor its critics, the Biden administration also censored the Big Tech companies themselves from speaking out about its coercion.
Via a formal “warrant,” the Office of Special Prosecutor Jack Smith ordered the Big Tech platform X (formerly Twitter) not to tell its users when the special prosecutor read their private messages. X sued, arguing it had a First Amendment right to disclose this information. The solicitor general successfully argued to the U.S. Supreme Court that X and its employees could, without trial, be forbidden from telling people of the government’s surveillance.
X owner Elon Musk was a friend and political ally of one of the targeted users, then-2024 Republican nominee Donald Trump. The judiciary’s decision to uphold Smith’s gag order meant that the government was able to police the internal conversations between the opposition leader and his supporters as those supporters were trying to discuss their concerns with the weaponization of government.
Key Individuals:
- Merrick Garland, Attorney General
- Elizabeth Prelogar, Solicitor General
- Jack Smith, Special Counsel
