Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-411_3dq3.pdf
Page Number: 24.0

Cite as:  603 U. S. ____ (2024) 

19 

Opinion of the Court 

along with posts including data from the Vaccine Adverse 
Event Reporting System (VAERS).  And in March 2021, the 
CDC  flagged  several  misinformation  trends  for  Facebook,
including  claims  related  to  pregnancy  and  VAERS  data.
Because  Hines  does  not  provide  dates  for  the  fact  checks, 
we cannot know whether the CDC could be responsible.

In May 2022, Facebook restricted Hines’ account for post-
ing an article discussing increased rates of myocarditis in
teenagers following vaccination.  A little over a year earlier, 
the CDC warned Facebook against claims of “unsubstanti-
ated  links  to  new  [vaccine]  side  effects,”  including  “ ‘irri-
tab[ility],’ ” “ ‘auto-immune issues, infertility,’ ” and “ ‘neuro-
logical damage including lowered IQ.’ ”  54 Record 17,042– 
17,043  (emphasis  deleted).    There  is  no  evidence  that  the 
CDC ever listed myocarditis as an unsubstantiated side ef-
fect—but because it is an alleged side effect, it at least falls 
under  the  same  umbrella  as  the  CDC’s  communication. 
Health Freedom’s February 2023 violation, by contrast, was
for posting that vaccine manufacturers would not compen-
sate those with vaccine-related injuries—a topic that bears
little resemblance to the content that the CDC flagged.

In April 2023, Hines received violations for posts about 
children  and  the  vaccine.  In  November  2021,  Facebook 
worked with the CDC to update its policies to remove addi-
tional  false  claims  including  that  “ ‘the  COVID  vaccine  is
not  safe  for  kids.’ ”    37  id.,  at  11,457.    It  is  not  clear  that 
either  of  Hines’  posts  violated  the  CDC-influenced  policy 
against  false  claims  related  to  children  and  the  vaccine.
One  simply  referred  to  the  World  Health  Organization’s
COVID–19 vaccine recommendations for children, and the 
other discussed the role of children within the “predatory”
pharmaceutical industry.  App. 789–790.  Given the loose 
match between the policy and the posts, it is hard to call it
“likely” that Facebook was enforcing the CDC’s preferences