Court asked to prohibit Facebook from censoring vaccine critics – Overton County News

The Rutherford Institute has asked a federal court to prohibit Facebook from censoring and de-platforming critics of the COVID-19 vaccine in violation of the First Amendment.

In an amicus brief filed in Childrens Health Defense v. Facebook, Rutherford Institute attorneys argue that Facebook acted in concert with U.S. government officials and agencies to suppress and punish Childrens Health Defense for sharing information critical of the dangers of the COVID-19 vaccine.

We should all be alarmed when prominent social media voices are censored, silenced and made to disappear from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram for voicing ideas that are deemed politically incorrect, hateful, dangerous, extremist or conspiratorial, said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People.

At some point, depending on how the government and its corporate allies define what constitutes extremism, we might all be considered guilty of some thought crime or other and subjected to technocensorship.

Founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Childrens Health Defense (CHD) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending childhood health epidemics by exposing causes, eliminating harmful exposures, seeking justice for those injured, and establishing safeguards to prevent future harms.

CHD, an outspoken critic of the proliferation of childhood vaccines, seeks to inform the public about vaccines and the health dangers posed by vaccines and wireless technologies. CHDs mission has brought it in conflict with the pharmaceutical industry, which obtains huge profits from the sale of vaccines, the United State government, which accepts millions of dollars in funding from the pharmaceutical industry, and big-tech internet companies that profit from expanded wireless technologies.

Crucial to CHDs mission of educating the public is its use of social media, including Facebook, to provide links to studies and information provided by experts on public health that exposes the dangers of vaccines; however, since January 2019, Facebook has repeatedly posted labels and overlays on CHDs Facebook page labeling information provided as false, prevented persons visiting CHDs Facebook page from making donations to CHD, and otherwise asserted that CHD violated Facebooks terms of service by posting false information.

In August 2020, CHD filed a lawsuit alleging that Facebooks actions, in retaliation for CHDs speech critical of vaccines and wireless technologies, violated the First Amendments guarantee to freedom of speech. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook acted at the behest of and in concert with the U.S government, asserting that Congressman Adam Schiff had pressured Facebook to suppress vaccine misinformation and that officials threatened to repeal a statute providing Facebook with immunity from liability.

Facebook moved to dismiss the First Amendment claim arguing that it is a private entity and not subject to the First Amendment. In its amicus brief, The Rutherford Institute argues that CHDs lawsuit must be allowed to proceed in order to protect the free speech rights of all citizens, which are threatened by the increasing collaboration of the government and social media giants to censor speech that challenges the status quo.

The Rutherford Institutes amicus brief in Childrens Health Defense v. Facebook is available at http://www.rutherford.org. Affiliate attorney Julie A. Esposito assisted The Rutherford Institute in advancing the First Amendment arguments rebutting Facebooks attempt to censor COVID-19 vaccine critics.

The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties organization, provides legal assistance at no charge to individuals whose constitutional rights have been threatened or violated and educates the public on a wide spectrum of issues affecting their freedoms.

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Court asked to prohibit Facebook from censoring vaccine critics - Overton County News