SACRAMENTO, Calif — California Attorney General Rob Bonta is joining 21 other attorneys general in supporting the federal government's fight against an injunction barring them from reaching out to social media companies about their moderation.
Under the July 4 injunction, agencies including the FBI and the CDC are prohibited from contacting social media apps about posts they view as "false, misleading or harmful."
The injunction came after a lawsuit by attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri alleged the federal government overstepped in influencing social media company policies on COVID-19 or political misinformation.
But Bonta said Monday the injunction treats any and all government outreach to social media platforms as unconstitutional.
"Instead of protecting free speech, the district court’s [injunction] severely restricts the flow of public information by preventing large swaths of the federal government from expressing its views on a wide range of matters of vital public importance," he said.
Bonta says state governments frequently share expertise with social media companies and it is in the interest of public safety and customer protection.
Among the other states joining the amicus briefing in support of the federal government include Washington DC, New York and New Jersey.
The amicus briefing claims it was state government information sharing that swayed Meta from creating an Instagram app for children under 13.
