By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) -Meta Platforms rejected a call from Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which challenged the censorship of Facebook posts spreading misinformation about vaccine efficacy and safety.
In a decision Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California, said the nonprofit did not show that Meta collaborated with or was coerced by federal officials to suppress positions that challenge “government orthodoxy” on vaccines. to doubt.
Children’s Health Defense sued in 2020, saying Meta violated her constitutional rights by labeling “vaccine misinformation” as false and taking away the right to advertise on Facebook.
Meta’s actions include banning users from sharing claims that COVID-19 vaccines don’t work, and directing viewers of Children’s Health Defense posts to the World Health Organization for facts about COVID-19.
Circuit Judge Eric Miller, appointed by Republican former President Donald Trump, wrote for the appeals court that Meta was a “purely private” company with a First Amendment right not to use its platform to promote views it found distasteful.
“Meta apparently believes that vaccines are safe and effective and that their use should be encouraged,” Miller wrote. “It does not lose the right to promote those views simply because they happen to be shared by the government.”
The court also dismissed Children’s Health Defense’s claims against the Poynter Institute and Science Feedback, which help Meta evaluate the accuracy of Facebook content.
Kennedy, an independent U.S. presidential candidate, helped champion the Children’s Health Defense appeal. Meta removed the group’s accounts from Facebook and Instagram in August 2022.
Children’s Health Defense said it was disappointed with the decision and was considering its legal options.
General counsel Kim Mack Rosenberg said the First Amendment “seems hollow” while the only speech protected and heard “reinforces the prevailing narrative.”
Meta and lawyers for the Menlo Park, California-based company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Circuit Judge Daniel Collins, also a Trump appointee, disagreed with the decision and said Children’s Health Defense could seek an injunction on his free speech claims. He agreed that his other claims, including those for monetary damages, should be dismissed.
Friday’s decision upheld a June 2021 ruling by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco.
The case is Children’s Health Defense v. Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:), 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 21-16210.
