Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-411_3dq3.pdf
Page Number: 37.0

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

3 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

the marketplace of ideas is restricted. 

Of course, purely private entities like newspapers are not
subject to the First Amendment, and as a result, they may
publish or decline to publish whatever they wish.  But gov-
ernment  officials  may  not  coerce  private  entities  to  sup-
press speech, see National Rifle Association of America v. 
Vullo, 602 U. S. 175 (2024), and that is what happened in
this case. 

The record before us is vast.  It contains evidence of com-
munications  between  many  different  government  actors
and a variety of internet platforms, as well as evidence re-
garding the effects of those interactions on the seven differ-
ent plaintiffs.  For present purposes, however, I will focus 
on (a) just a few federal officials (namely, those who worked 
either in the White House or the Surgeon General’s office), 
(b) only one of the most influential social media platforms, 
Facebook,  and  (c)  just  one  plaintiff,  Jill  Hines,  because  if 
any of the plaintiffs has standing, we are obligated to reach
the  merits  of  this  case.    See  Rumsfeld  v.  Forum  for  Aca-
demic and Institutional Rights, Inc., 547 U. S. 47, 52, n. 2 
(2006).

With  the  inquiry  focused  in  this  way,  here  is  what  the 

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under pressure from the administration and others to do more and it was 
part of the ‘more’ package”). But since then, both the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation and the Department of Energy have found that the theory 
is probably correct.  See, e.g., A. Kaur & D. Diamond, FBI Director Says
Covid–19 “Most Likely” Originated From Lab Incident, Washington Post 
(Feb.  28,  2023),  https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/02/28/fbi-
director-christopher-wray-wuhan-lab; J. Herb & N. Bertrand, US Energy 
Department  Assesses  Covid–19  Likely  Resulted  From  Lab  Leak,  Fur-
thering  US  Intel  Divide  Over  Virus  Origin,  CNN  (Feb.  27,  2023),
https: // www.cnn.com / 2023/02/26/politics/covid-lab-leak-wuhan-china-
intelligence/index.html.  Facebook reversed its policy, and Mark Zucker-
berg  expressed  regret  that  the  platform  had  ever  removed  the  posts: 
“This seems like a good reminder that when we compromise our stand-
ards due to pressure from an administration in either direction, we’ll of-
ten regret it later.”  Committee Report 398.