Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-411_3dq3.pdf
Page Number: 59.0

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

25 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

subtle and sophisticated.  The message was delivered piece-
meal by various officials over a period of time in the form of 
aggressive  questions,  complaints,  insistent  requests,  de-
mands, and thinly veiled threats of potentially fatal repris-
als.  But the message was unmistakable, and it was duly
received. 

The principle recognized in Bantam Books and Vullo re-
quires  a  court  to  distinguish  between  permissible  persua-
sion and unconstitutional coercion, and in Vullo, we looked 
to three leading factors that are helpful in making that de-
termination:  (1)  the  authority  of  the  government  officials
who are alleged to have engaged in coercion, (2) the nature
of statements made by those officials, and (3) the reactions 
of the third party alleged to have been coerced.  602 U. S., 
at 189–190, and n. 4, 191–194.  In this case, all three factors 
point to coercion. 

A 
I begin with the authority of the relevant officials—high-
ranking  White  House  officials  and  the  Surgeon  General. 
High-ranking White House officials presumably speak for 
and may have the ability to influence the President, and as
discussed  earlier,  a  Presidential  administration  has  the 
power  to  inflict  potentially  fatal  damage  to  social  media 
platforms like Facebook.  See supra, at 5.  Facebook appre-
ciates what the White House could do, and President Biden 
has spoken openly about that power—as he has every right 
to do.  For instance, he has declared that the “policy of [his] 
Administration [is] to enforce the antitrust laws to meet the 
challenges posed  by  . . .  the  rise  of  the  dominant  Internet 
platforms,” and he has directed the Attorney General and 
other agency heads to “enforce the antitrust laws . . . vigor-
ously.”  Promoting Competition in the American Economy, 
Executive  Order  No.  14036,  3  CFR  609  (2021).19    He  has  
—————— 

19 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/
2021/07/09/executive-order-on-promoting-competition-in-the-american-